Forgotten Dream
by Erendhyl
Summary: What would happen if Naruto and Sakura forgot that Sasuke existed? What if all their memories of him were totally erased? Now, what if Sasuke returned... SasuSaku, slight NaruHina, somewhat dark
1. Prologue

Forgotten Dream

Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. However, I do own the ritual I use in this story, and the lines of said ritual. Yeah, I finally own something in what I'm writing. It makes me feel special.**

**This story is very dark and slightly depressing. I didn't intend for it to be, but my reviews say that it's sad, and even I have to admit that it's turning out to be dark. But I promise the ending of the story will be as happy as I can make it. So get out your tissue boxes and prepare to cry, and then cry at the ending because it's so happy.**

**(A/N: I couldn't think of another line to begin this with, but not many people know where this quote is from. It's from Naruto manga chapter 310, right after Naruto and Sakura meet up with Sasuke for the first time in two and a half years. Sasuke vanishes with Orochimaru and Kabuto, and Naruto starts crying.)**

"_Crying… won't bring him back to us," Sakura said softly, tears pearling in her own eyes. She was right, though. Crying wouldn't bring him back. It was stupid, and pointless, and exactly the kind of thing she would have done two and a half years ago, before she began to try to change herself. But now, even knowing this, she still had to cry. There was just no way around it. It just hurt so much. So much… so much… so much…_

"Naruto, this spot will do," Sakura informed her blond teammate, halting in the shadow of a huge tree. The normally hyperactive shinobi halted immediately, for once obeying every order that he was given without question. Sakura was relieved by this. What they were doing would be hard enough, without Naruto disobeying. Deep in the shadows of the forest that surrounded Konoha, they would be utterly without aid if trouble were to ensue. Naruto would have to behave, for the sake of their lives. Very much aware of the severity of her actions, she turned to the other two members of their party. Tsunade was the one who spoke.

"Are you two sure that you want to do this?" she asked for the final time. Sakura looked at Naruto. Reflected on his face was the same decisiveness as on hers. They would do this. As one, they nodded their consent to Tsunade. She turned to the fourth and final member of the group. The figure nodded, their face hidden by the shadows. "Very well," she sighed in defeat. Tsunade wished with all her heart that it had not come to this. For two of her strongest shinobi to be driven this far was too much, too cruel. "Both of you come forward," she instructed Naruto and Sakura. The teenaged ninja stepped forward until they were directly in front of Tsunade. She clasped each of their hands in her own and bowed her head.

"It is time to begin the ritual," Sakura said gravely. The other two nodded. Even Naruto was struck mute by the seriousness of the situation. In their joined hands, chakra began to gather, the blue glow shining against the darkness of the forest. All the power the three shinobi possessed would be used by this, their greatest act of a lifetime. The technique they were about to perform was no simple jutsu, achieved by a small amount of chakra being combined with the correct sequence of hand signs. This was dark and ancient, a remnant of the higher powers that had occupied their world in the time before ninja.

"Hinata, come here," Tsunade commanded. Without any of her usual hesitation, the shadowed figure stepped into the area illuminated by the chakra glow, revealing the somber Hyuuga heiress. Her expression held no shyness, only a firm sense of purpose. She moved forward until she stood right next to the three ninja who would perform the ritual, the glow of their combined chakra casting a ghostly light on her face. Without further hesitation, Tsunade began to speak the ancient words of the ritual.

"In this great world of ours, there is joy, there is love, and there is happiness. But in the world dwell also pain, sorrow, loss, and grief. On this day, we have gathered here. We, those who will live and die under this cynical sky. We, who have felt true pain. We, who, in our pain, ask that we be granted salvation. We ask that we may be granted a peace, after a long period of hardship and strife. We ask to forget our trouble, a burden which causes a pain too great for a mortal heart to withstand. We ask that the memory may leave us; that all traces are forever removed from our minds, so that our lives may move on. We ask that we may be allowed to forget Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto and Sakura's faces held only pain as she said this. Never had they thought that it would come to this. Never had they thought that Sasuke could hurt them so badly that they would be forced to erase all traces of him from their mind, or go insane with the pain of it all. He had been their comrade, their friend, and now, the bane of their existence. Long nights of lying awake, engrossed in bittersweet memories had taken their toll, and the two shinobi that had come to ask Tsunade to perform this ritual had been almost unrecognizable as the happy children of their youth. Their loss had destroyed them. Tsunade continued.

"The memory of this boy has scarred the souls of these two young shinobi, so that they may no longer live. Instead, they live a half life, tied to the past and to memories of what once was. We ask that they be freed from this burden.

"But let all hope of recollection not be erased. Let this girl, this single girl alone out of the whole of the village, be allowed to remember. Even as the memory fades from those around her, let her memories sharpen, until they are as clear and fresh as reality. Let her bear the memories of these two shinobi in their stead, as their sacrifice for salvation from their pain. This is my will, so mote it be." As Tsunade finished, the chakra gathered in their hands began to glow even brighter, bathing the entire clearing in its light. The faces of the four ninja appeared to glow with light. Suddenly, with a massive flare of light, the chakra left their hands, flowing over them and the entire area surrounding the Hidden Village in the form of pure energy bent on accomplishing the task laid forward by the ritual. Hinata watched it all in awe, amazed at the sheer magnitude of her friends' action.

The bright glow slowly died down, leaving the small group in a darkness broken only by the faint light of the stars above. Tsunade gazed somberly at Naruto and Sakura.

"Very soon you will begin to forget. We all will. Every single person in the Village Hidden in the Leaves will forget that a boy named Uchiha Sasuke ever dwelled here. Everyone, except her," she finished, pointing at Hinata. Hinata bowed her head. She had known from the beginning. When Tsunade had first agreed to perform the ritual, to make Naruto and Sakura and everyone else forget, she had agreed to be the one to remember. It had been Naruto's idea. Not the part with her, of course, but the part where one person would remember who Sasuke was and what he had meant to them. That way, if Sasuke ever chose to come back, there would be someone to tell him what had been done, and someone to help restore the memories of Konohagakure Village, so that Team Seven could happen again. She had volunteered for that person to be her. Naruto was the dearest person in the world to her, and Sakura had become her closest friend during the time when the blond had been on his training journey with Jiraiya. They were two people who had always been there for her, from the very beginning, and now she finally had a way to pay them back. It had been an honor for her to remember in their stead.

"Hinata…" Naruto began.

"Hinata-chan…" Sakura too was unable to come up with anything to say to her friend. Finally she found the words, "Thank you. If… if Sasuke-kun ever comes back… if we ever remember… it will all be thanks to you. We would never be able to repay you for that. We can never repay you for just this. Remember that. Even when we forget, know that we'll always be grateful to you," Sakura told her, pearly tears shining in her eyes. Naruto nodded, tears in his eyes as well. Both of them radiated a depth of gratitude and love that left Hinata speechless. She could only smile as her eyes filled with tears.

The four shinobi stood in the shadow of the ancient tree, illuminated only by starlight, a breeze tugging at their clothes as they shared a last few moments of memory. By the next day, Hinata would be the only one who remembered what had passed here tonight. The three others wanted to savor the last few minutes of knowing, before their memory vanished forever.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan."

"We wish it hadn't come to this, Hinata."

"Thank you."

The next morning dawned bright and sunny. For Naruto and Sakura, it was the first time in nearly three years that they awoke without longing for Sasuke's presence by their side. For Hinata, it began the time of her emotional isolation as the only one in the entire village who could remember Sasuke's existence. In this way, years would pass. Time would go on. The Konoha Eleven would grow up. Things would go on like this for three years. Three years to the day after the ritual was preformed, something happened to change this pattern forever.

Uchiha Sasuke returned to the village.

**A/N: Yay, I started my first several chapter long story! Please review to tell me what you think of it so far. I know that the ritual thing was kind of out of Naruto world style, but I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if Sasuke came back and Naruto and Sakura forgot him. This will turn into a SasukeXSakura story later on, which is why the main characters are listed as Sasuke and Sakura despite him not even appearing in this chapter. **


	2. Who are you?

Forgotten Dream

Chapter I: Who are you?

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, would this really be published on Of course I don't own the series! But I do own the poem at the very beginning of this chapter.**

Lift your eyes unto the sky

Who says that you're alone?

There's a heart beating for yours in the valley beyond

And a place for you to go home.

Rain fell upon the carnage strewn battlefield, like tears of heaven shed for the souls of the dying. Uchiha Sasuke gazed up at the overcast sky, letting the chill rain freeze his body, numbing the pain from his wounds. The look on his face was that of a lost child separated from its mother. Beside him, the corpse of his late brother, Itachi, began to grow cold. He had done it. He had killed one of the most powerful men on the face of the planet. And now that he had, he had nothing.

A single tear fell from his dark eye, mingling with the endless rain. There was nothing left for him here. It seemed that his life just went through different phases of complication. First living in the shadow of his nii-san, then being an avenger in a city of peace, then training under Orochimaru, struggling to gain enough power to surpass his sensei before it was too late and Orochimaru took his body away from him, then leading Team Hebi on a desperate attempt to find and kill Itachi, the final battle between brothers, and now this. This aching loneliness, this knowing that he was alone in the world, this pain. Nothing was left for him now. All that remained was emptiness.

Sasuke picked himself up and dragged his aching body into the shelter offered by a tree on the edge of the battlefield. Resting his back against the trunk, Sasuke allowed himself to sink to the earthy ground, utterly exhausted. He bowed his head as though in prayer, too tired to even muster the dignity to die sitting up straight.

Something cold and wet blew into the side of his head, carried by the breeze that accompanied all storms. Sasuke picked it up, examining it dully. It was a cherry blossom. A sakura. _Sakura…_

Her face appeared clearly in his mind, full of the same laughter that had always been present in it in the days before he left. Pale pink hair framed her rosy countenance, her jade green eyes full of the joy that she always seemed to possess at the mere sight of him. "Sasuke-kun," he heard her softly say, endowing the suffix with a tender love unlike anyone else's. He smiled at the recollection of her. Next to her appeared another figure. This one was a boy, a blond child of Sasuke's own age, with sapphire blue eyes that sparkled with mischief and whisker marks on his cheeks. Naruto. His face sported the same idiotic grin that was so often upon it in the days of their youth.

"Sasuke-teme, remember?" he heard Naruto's voice ask. "We'll always wait for you. You're part of the Team. We'll always be your friends. Always."

"Always, Naruto," the Sasuke of here and now said. A tired smile made its way onto his beaten face. Maybe there was something left after all. He picked himself up as the clouds began to break, the light of the sun shining down upon Sasuke as he headed to a place he had not seen in five and a half years. His home. Konohagakure no Sato. The Village Hidden in the Leaves.

_Just… a little… further,_ Sasuke thought to himself as he plodded on. He had not stopped walking since reaching his decision to return home the previous day, and he was exhausted. Stopping was not an option, however. Sasuke had not escaped unscathed from his battle with Itachi; he had many wounds too serious for his limited medical skills to be of any use to. He'd lost a dangerous amount of blood too, and his vision was foggy. If only he could rest for just a little while… but Sasuke harbored no doubts. He knew that if he stopped now and allowed himself to sleep, it would be a sleep from which he would never awaken. _So just keep going,_ his mind told him.

Sasuke limped on, using his katana as a crutch. The Uchiha was beaten indeed, if he would resort to using such a proud weapon as a mere walking stick. But there was no other way, not if he wanted to be able to keep walking long enough to reach the Village.

For the past few hours, he'd been traveling through territory that he recognized. He may have only been here once before, but the journey that had brought him to this land was momentous enough for the scenery to forever be embedded in his mind. This was the area near Konoha, where he had fled with the Sound Four after he agreed to Orochimaru's proposal to leave the Leaf in favor of Otogakure. In other words, it was the area near his home. He was almost there. Just a little farther until he should reach the road, and then it was only a short journey to the gates themselves…

The thought offered slight comfort, giving him the strength required to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Soon. Soon. Soon, he would be able to see Naruto and Sakura again. Soon.

Down the beaten track that was the road leading into Konohagakure Village he plodded, almost utterly spent. The gates loomed into view, and Sasuke doubted that he had ever seen a more welcome sight. The guards at their post started at the sight of his beaten body dragging itself forward. He saw them approach him, and grinned tiredly. A hazy blackness was already spreading across his vision; he had not arrived a moment too soon. Knowing that help was here, Sasuke finally allowed his tired body to give in to the fatigue that had plagued him since his victory over Itachi the previous day. The iron determination that had fueled his body until now vanished, and he promptly blacked out.

When Sasuke awoke, he was lying in a warm bed, covered in soft blankets. His wounds had been bandaged so that he was no longer loosing blood, and much of the general gore of combat had been cleaned from his body. The result was so very comfortable that he would have sighed in ecstasy, had he been a different man. As it was, he merely settled comfortably amidst the warm layers, content to just lie here for the time being.

There was a bustling outside of the door, and a woman entered wearing the white uniform of a Konoha nurse. So he was in the hospital, then. That would explain the uniform white coloring of both his room and bed. If he were here, that would mean that they weren't planning on executing him for treason anytime soon, though whether or not they eventually planned to was probably still not decided. That was fine with him. He had been aware the entire time since he left five and a half years ago that if he ever returned he would most likely be sentenced to death; he'd only returned in the hope of being allowed to see Naruto and Sakura one more time before he died.

The nurse cleared her throat, effectively returning his attention to her.

"Now, how are you feeling?" she asked. Sasuke turned to face her, his response that he was fine catching in his throat as he really looked at her for the first time, and noticed her bright green eyes, her cherry blossom hair…

_"Sakura?!"_ he asked, incredulous. She looked a little startled that he knew her name, but the shock only deterred her questions for a second before she began the little interview again, though this time less like a professional nurse and more like a confused teenage girl.

"Yes, my name is Sakura. How did you know that? I'm not wearing my name tag at the moment, and-"

"Sakura, don't you remember me?" he interrupted her.

"Remember you… from where?"

"Sakura, we were Genin together. You, Naruto, and I; we were Team Seven. When I left you said that you loved me…" he trailed off at her confused expression.

"I never had another teammate. Only Naruto. Our squad was special in that we only had two trainees. There was never anyone else. Who are you?"

**A/N: Muhaha, I actually managed to type all of chapter one in less than a day. I feel really special now. Please review to tell me what you thought of it.**


	3. She doesn't remember

Forgotten Dream 

Chapter II: She doesn't remember

**Disclaimer: Yes, while in the middle of a story, I somehow managed to magically get the Naruto copyright, but chose to stay on this site. Do you really think I own this?! I'm getting really annoyed typing over fifteen of these in the two weeks I've been on here!**

**A/N: If you see this symbol **sasuXsaku, **it means that I'm switching between Sasuke and Sakura's perspectives. And I apologize if that symbol doesn't show up; if it doesn't I'll come up with an alternative soon, since I have noticed that skipping a couple lines between paragraphs doesn't work. Does anyone know of a way to indicate a break that will show up on the site?**

_Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?_ Sakura's question reverberated in Sasuke's brain as Sakura bustled around, checking the machines that monitored his vital signs. Sakura had asked him that. _Sakura_ did not know who he was. He had come to accept the idea that she may not be thrilled with him for leaving, and may be a little mad at first, but her flat out not remembering?! That was a scenario he had never envisioned, and even if he had, he doubted that he ever could have been prepared for it.

_Sakura…_ his mind cried out in agony. He had never felt so alone. Even as she stood beside his bed, reading the information displayed by the machines and recording it on her clipboard, he felt that he was utterly alone. Sakura did not remember. It was heartbreaking.

"Your doing much better today, Sasuke," she told him as she finished her examination of the machines. The use of his name without her usual –kun tore deep into Sasuke's heart. She had started calling him by his name after he had been assigned to her care; that much of his story she believed, at least. He knew that she didn't believe him about Team Seven, and frankly he didn't expect her to. She had forgotten, and that he couldn't comprehend, but the fact still remained that she had. If someone started trying to tell _him_ that they had been his childhood crush who was descended from one of the most powerful bloodlines in the village, he'd probably look at them with the expression of disbelief that he generally reserved for when the Dobe did something particularly stupid.

Trying not to appear as though he was sulking (even though he was), Sasuke smiled at her comment; as though it pleased him to hear that his body was recovering. He managed to take small bit of pleasure from the comment, though it was dwarfed by the far greater pain that resided in his soul. How could he take pleasure in the recovery of his body, when his heart was breaking in two?

sasuXsaku

Haruno Sakura finished scribbling down the notes on Sasuke's condition, satisfied at the rate at which his body was healing. As she finished up, she gazed through her bangs at her patient. She supposed that he was good looking enough, but for him to say that she had loved him, when she had no recollection of him from any point before he turned up at the village gates on the borderline between life and death… Yes, she supposed that Sasuke was nice enough, but she would surely have remembered him if she really had ever loved him. How would she ever have been able to forget something as important as what he described her feelings toward him as having been? He was probably just confusing her with some other girl. Yes, that was it. Pink hair was an oddity, so he must have seen her and just assumed her to be this girl who had loved him.

Her heart twisted with pity at the thought. It sounded like this girl had really meant a lot to Sasuke, and he didn't even have any idea where she was. Looking at Sasuke through her bangs, Sakura felt that the pink haired girl who was not her was very lucky indeed. To be loved like this by someone was a rare gift, and it should be treasured always. And Sasuke was rather good looking, she supposed…

sasuXsaku

Sasuke watched longingly as Sakura finished writing out her report. Another girl. She thought that he was confusing her with another girl, when he had accepted long ago that she was the only girl he could ever love. Sasuke bowed his head, biting his lower lip to keep himself from crying. Shedding tears would solve nothing, and would only lead to more concern and worry on his behalf on the part of Sakura. It wasn't fair that he put her through anything more than she had already endured because of him. No matter that his heart was breaking. No matter that she may as well have stabbed him. It didn't matter. None of it mattered, as long as he didn't do anything further to hurt his cherry blossom.

The handle of the door turned, seemingly echoing loudly in a room silent of all but the beeping of the machines monitoring Sasuke's medical condition. It seemed that the door opened in slow motion, and the person stepped in deliberately, giving Sasuke plenty of time to identify who it was.

Blond hair stuck up in an uncombed mess above a mischievous face. Deep blue eyes held the same inner laughter as when Sasuke had known the man before him best, their fires undiminished by time. Six whisker marks covered the man's cheeks, three on each side. Overall, the Uzumaki Naruto who entered Sasuke's hospital room looked nearly identical to the one he had left behind those five and a half years ago. The only real difference was the addition of several inches of height and a slightly more mature look, though the idea of Naruto having actually grown up into a responsible adult was too dismal a subject to even think about.

"Sakura-chan, you were supposed to have finished here almost an hour ago!" he exclaimed. Sasuke felt his heartache ease slightly. Even if the effect wasn't intended, it was nearly impossible to be upset when Naruto was around (once you stop being an avenger who cannot have friends for fear that they will be used against him and start becoming a normal member of society who answers questions with something more descriptive than 'hn'). Sasuke's pink haired former teammate smiled at the hyperactive blond.

"I'll be done in a minute, Naruto. I just have to finish writing up the report on Sasuke's condition," she informed him, indicating the long form she was filling out detailing Sasuke's medical health. Naruto grinned and hugged her. She shrieked in surprise to find Naruto's arms wrapped around her, but returned the embrace after a moment, smiling lovingly at the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Sasuke watched in silent horror.

_Are they…? No, they couldn't be! They can't! Sakura loves…_ his thoughts trailed off as he remembered that Sakura did not love him. She didn't even remember him. Maybe if she had forgotten Sasuke, she could have moved on… to loving Naruto.

The machine monitoring Sasuke's heart rate began to beep much more rapidly. Sakura tore from Naruto's grip and ran over to check it, alarm written all across her kind face.

"Sasuke! Are you alright? What's wrong?" It was only with great self control that Sasuke kept himself from crying at her question. What's wrong, she asked. Everything was wrong. Sakura did not remember him, the Dobe did not display any signs of remembering him, and the two of them may be dating. What wasn't wrong would have been a far better question.

Sasuke shook his head slowly, as much in grief as to indicate to Sakura that nothing was wrong with him.

"I'm okay, Sakura, really," he told her quietly. "You can leave; I'll be alright." She didn't look convinced, but there wasn't a lot that she could to do make him be honest.

"Sasuke, are you sure that you'll be fine here all by yourself? I could stay later if you need me to," she told him, genuinely concerned for his well being. Sasuke shook his head again.

"I'm fine," he insisted. Sakura still did not look convinced, but she could sense the folly of arguing with him. She got up and followed Naruto out of Sasuke's hospital room, a sad expression on her face.

sasuXsaku

_I really do wish he would open up,_ Sakura thought. Sasuke may not really be someone from her past, but there was just something about him… He gave off an aura of great sorrow; like he had seen so much pain that the suffering within him at the moment seemed like nothing in the face of it all. It made Sakura want to comfort him, to hug him and tell him that it was alright, and that she was the girl that he said had loved him years ago. But that would have been a lie. Still, Sakura could not help but wish she could tell him that; that she could be the girl who could end his suffering like that. Whoever that girl was, she was lucky to be loved so much by someone like Sasuke. Sakura wished that someday she might have a relationship like theirs must have been.

**A/N: Okay, Sasuke is now totally OOC, but he's going through a very hard time right now. He comes back to the village and Naruto and Sakura just **_**forgot**_** him. And no, Sakura and Naruto are not dating. That's just me being cruel to Sasuke. Naruto was hugging her in a brotherly manner; Sasuke just read too deep into it. He's going a bit crazy since they don't remember him. Muhaha, it's fun to make the characters suffer.**


	4. Now You Know

Forgotten Dream

Chapter III: Now You Know

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own Sasuke. I do not own Sakura. I hate that.**

**A/N: Yay, my little symbol thing appears! That makes me happy, now I don't have to come up with a new way to indicate switching perspective. (Scratch that; I just replaced it, which is why all the chapters are being replaced at the moment. If you notice any typing errors, please do not hesitate to tell me. I edited this myself, so if something was typed wrong, I may have just not noticed it because I knew what it was supposed to say.)**

Sasuke lay in his hospital bed, full of defeat. Sakura didn't remember him, Naruto didn't remember him, and the two of them were possibly dating. Joy to the world. Now all that he needed was for Itachi to come back to life, and everything would be as awful as it could possibly get. Sometimes he really hated his life.

Sasuke sighed in despair. What could he do? Was there anything that could make them remember again? He doubted it; he couldn't even think of anything that would have caused them to forget in the first place. The only thing it seemed he could do was to wait, and become their friend a second time, so that something like Team Seven might be able to happen again. Sasuke did not miss the irony of the idea that he was the one so obsessed with recreating Team Seven, when he was the one who had destroyed it in the first place. The world had a cruel sense of humor in that way.

He could do it, though. He could become their friend a second time, maybe even be as close as they had been in their Genin days. But even if he did, the ache in his heart would never go away. The ache of all the happy memories they should share, that Naruto and Sakura no longer possessed, for one reason or another. He could do it, though. He would have to. Because there was no possible way that Uchiha Sasuke could survive loneliness like after his clan had been wiped out a second time.

The turning of the door knob jolted him out of his reverie. He straightened his back, refusing to appear broken even at a time like this. Most likely it would be another nurse, coming to check up on him and probably fangirl him in the process. _That_ hadn't changed in all the time he'd been gone. Or it could be Sakura, refusing to take his word for it that he was fine alone. Secretly (well, perhaps not so secretly) he hoped it was the latter. One of the things he didn't expect was that it was Hyuuga Hinata. Sasuke gaped at the Hyuuga heiress, who fumbled with her fingers as she awkwardly glanced at anything but him.

"Hinata," Sasuke addressed her calmly, letting none of his shock at her appearance now make its way into his voice. The shy kunoichi looked up at the sound of her name, her eyes full of fear.

"H-hello, S-Sasuke-san," she stuttered. Sasuke had already begun to form his signature smirk before his brain processed what she had said. The muscles of his face froze in shock midway through forming the expression that many (rabid fans) have come to associate with the young Uchiha. She had addressed him by his name. She had known who he was. Shock and hope made their way onto his face as he gazed at her. Hinata turned her head to face the ground, obviously made uncomfortable by his scrutiny.

"Hinata, how do you know who I am, when even Naruto and Sakura don't seem to know?" If possible, Hinata became even more fidgety at his question, and her already difficult to understand stuttering became almost unbearable.

"W-well, S-S-Sasuke-san, i-it's just-"

"Hinata," Sasuke cut her off (rudely), "Tell me _without stuttering_." The shy Hyuuga gulped at the fierceness in his voice, and then she did the impossible. Hinata spoke without a single stutter.

"It was three years ago, Sasuke-san," she told him while looking at the floor. Sasuke had meant for her to look at him without stuttering, but he decided not to push his luck. He was asking for information, after all, not a miracle. "Exactly three years ago, when Naruto-kun and Sakura-san told me what they had asked Tsunade-sama. While she was reading several old books in Gondaime-sama's library, Sakura-san found mention of a ritual, designed to make people forget pain, events… or people. They asked Tsunade-sama to perform it for them, so that they could forget you. They had just gotten back from the mission where they found you. It destroyed them. I don't think you fully realized what you did to them then, Sasuke-san, but even Naruto-kun could barely smile anymore. They asked for a release from that pain, and they found it."

"So… they did it…?" Sasuke asked, almost afraid of what she would say. Hinata nodded.

"Exactly three years ago, to the day, on the night of the new moon, Tsunade-sama, Naruto-kun, and Sakura-san preformed the ritual in the forest surrounding the village. I was with them. Everyone, every single person in Konoha, would forget that there ever had been such a person as Uchiha Sasuke. Your birth records and anything else that they could find written about you had been destroyed beforehand, so that there would be nothing left behind to remind everyone. For Konoha, it was like you had never been born." _Like you had never been born…_ the words echoed mockingly in his head, reminding Sasuke what he had done to the people of this village. It had been easier for them to forget that he had ever existed, than to go on living with the knowledge that he had left them. Suddenly, he remembered the original question that had brought up this uncomfortable topic.

"Hinata, if the ritual was designed to make everyone forget, how is it that you still remember me?"

"I was their final hope," she said with ethereal calm. Hinata really could sound otherworldly when she wasn't stuttering. "I was the one person who would bear the memories of you in others' stead, so that if you ever came back, there would still be someone who remembered you, and a chance that things could go back to the way that they were before you left."

"So you know everything that happened?" he asked. Hinata smiled sadly in confirmation, and Sasuke felt a flash of pity for the young girl. She was the same age that he was, only seventeen, and yet she was isolated from all her peers by her memories of a person none of them even remembered the existence of. It must have been hard on her. He smiled forlornly at her to show that he too knew the pain she was feeling.

"Here," Hinata told him, reaching into the pocket of her coat and pulling out a pink book. "This is Sakura-san's journal, from the year that the four of you were Team Seven. She told me to give it to you, if you ever came back. On the last page is something she wrote to you right before her and Naruto… Don't worry, I never looked."

"Thank you, Hinata," Sasuke told her, allowing a tinge of sadness to make its way into his voice. He felt that if the normally quiet Hinata had managed to bear the burden of two and a half years of Naruto and Sakura's pain and grief over losing him, she at least deserved to know his true feelings on the subject.

"I-I just hope that N-Naruto-kun and Sakura-san are able to remember again," she told him sadly. Her stutter was back now that her task of informing him had been completed, and Sasuke couldn't bring himself to shout at her again. She deserved to be allowed to stutter, at least, after all that she had done in the hope of someday helping him. Instead, he smirked at her. Hinata bowed, and left the room.

Sasuke turned his attention to the book in front of him. It looked so small, so innocent. And yet the words it contained would change his entire life. If Sakura's final words to him had been filled with the grief of parting, it would surely drive him to tears, and only increase the ache in his heart that was a longing for her presence by his side, like it had been in the good old days of Team Seven. Yet if her words were ones of anger, fury at him for what he had done, he didn't think that he would be able to bear the guilt. Why was it that he needed to look, when whatever Sakura had said, it could cause nothing but pain to him now? For Sasuke's feelings about reading the journal could only be accurately described by the word need. Written between these two covers, were the last words Sakura had ever wanted to tell him. It would tear him apart worse than anything she could say to go on not knowing what it was she had been so desperate to tell him. He needed to know what she had said.

Slowly, deliberately, Sasuke opened the journal, and flipped to the last page…

**A/N: I absolutely had to make that a cliffhanger ending. I mean really, it was just screaming 'cliffie'! The next update will probably be in just a few days, though, so I won't make you suffer too long. Probably a week, at the latest. I'm not making any promises, though, in case I have to break them and then have everyone at my throat. One of the great truths of the world: hell hath no fury like deprived fans. As Kishimoto-sama has probably learned by now, from all the weeks that the manga didn't publish a chapter.**


	5. Sakura's Last Words

Forgotten Dream

Chapter IV: Sakura's last words

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or we would have gotten some definite answers by now. Seriously, if you read the current manga, the last few chapters have only been subtly giving us more questions. Although we did get one answer in chapter 386… (An apology to anyone who isn't fully caught up, but it was really really cool! And incredibly disturbing… shudders)**

**Recap: Slowly, deliberately, Sasuke opened the journal, and flipped to the last page…**

**Begin story**

He gazed down at Sakura's neat script, a final brief flare of fear at what she may have said surfacing before he ruthlessly crushed it. It didn't matter what might be written on this page. Well, it did matter, it mattered a great deal, but whatever may or may not be written here, he had to read it. He owed it to Sakura.

Sasuke began to read.

_Sasuke,_

_By the time that you get this, Naruto and I, and the whole population of the village of Konohagakure, will have forgotten that you exist. I am sorry, but it had to be done. We were suffering too much. The pain that you left us with was too great to bear, Sasuke; we had to act or go mad._

_Don't think that I blame you, though. I know that you had to leave, so you could get strong enough to avenge your clan. Naruto understands too. We both know this Sasuke, and we have known it all along, but it still hurts. Why couldn't you have let us come with you?! We're Team Seven, or have you forgotten that? Naruto and I both know that it would be hard and it would be dangerous, but we're your friends Sasuke, we care about you! Naruto and I both would rather have left the village with you and been in constant danger, than for you to have left us here, alone but for our memories of you. We genuinely would._

_Even as I write this, I laugh at my foolishness. Wishing to have gone with you cannot change the facts. You left us Sasuke, and that's all there is to it. And because you chose to leave without us, you have to deal with the consequences. The consequences being that when you return, Naruto and I will have no recollection of you ever having been our teammate._

_Sasuke, I know what you're probably thinking as you read this. You're thinking that Sakura is still just a whiny little girl who couldn't have her way, and so she's overeating. Well maybe I am. However, that doesn't change what it has done to me. There hasn't been a night since you left where I haven't lain in bed, wishing that I could have stopped you. It hurt me Sasuke, it really did. The one thing that I truly cared about doing in the world was saving you, and I was too weak to be able to do anything. I felt so worthless. Naruto suffered too. That laughter that gleamed in his eye; that glint of mischief that makes him that Uzumaki Naruto we know and love? Both were gone._

_However, let me repeat this: I do not blame you. I have never blamed you. All the times that you have rejected me, all the times that you have turned your back to me, all the times that you have called me annoying, I do not blame you for any of it. I always felt that I deserved it. Even when you left me that night, I did not blame you. How could I blame you? I'm in love with you._

_You'll always be in my Heart,_

_Haruno Sakura_

Tears fell from Sasuke's onyx eyes as he read the last words that Sakura had ever thought about him. She had still loved him. Even after all he had done to her, all the hurt he had made her suffer through, and she had still loved him. And, though she could not have known it at the time, he had loved her. He still did.

_Oh Sakura, _he thought sadly,_ if only you could remember._

**A/N: Okay, short chapter. I just wanted to make it entirely about what Sakura had written, you know, to make it more dramatic. The next chapter should be up really soon; I had some free time in class today because I already finished my test, so I wrote the beginning to chapter five. It's happier, for anyone who thought that this story was getting too depressing.**


	6. Memories Emerge

Forgotten Dream

Chapter V: Memories Emerge

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I hate that.**

Hinata came to visit him again the next day. She hovered in the doorway, playing with her hands as was her habit in states of nervousness. Sasuke smirked at her awkwardness.

"It's alright, Hinata," he told her. The shy Hyuuga's demeanor relaxed visibly when it became apparent that Sasuke was not about to turn his wrath upon her. She even managed to speak to him without stuttering. Sasuke almost smirked again in amazement with her progress. Apparently time had emboldened the girl, so that she now could speak to those she knew with barely even a stutter. Strangers, on the other hand, still left her stammering unintelligibly.

"Sasuke-san," she addressed him formally, "Sakura-san said that you will be discharged today. Tsunade-sama says that you may return to living in the Uchiha Compound, since it is obvious from your Sharingan that you are an Uchiha." (Sasuke's Sharingan had been revealed in a rather amusing manner. Apparently, one of the young female nurses had been fangirling him. Sasuke activated his Sharingan to threaten her, and would have proceeded with attacking if Sakura hadn't luckily arrived. It did get all nurses to stop making suggestive comments to him, though. In fact, almost everyone at the hospital now feared the Uchiha. Except for Sakura, of course, who had nothing to fear from Sasuke, and Tsunade, who could still probably beat him senseless if she felt like it.) Sasuke grimaced at the thought of once again living in his family's spacious manor home. The place was comfortable enough, but the memories that accompanied it would make living there an almost unbearable torture for Sasuke. Still, at least it was a sign that the village had accepted that he was an Uchiha, and therefore one of their own. Now if only…

The door to his room opened, causing Hinata to jump in shock. Sasuke didn't even twitch; he may have been too distracted to have sensed their chakra, but he was an Uchiha, and Uchiha do not show surprise. However, even as an Uchiha, Sasuke felt the now-familiar twinge in his heart when the two people entering were revealed to be Sakura and Naruto, though he tried his best not to show it.

"HINATA-CHAN!!" Naruto cried upon seeing that the shy kunoichi was already here, sweeping her into a bone-crushing hug that caused Hinata to squeak with surprise as her face turned as red as a tomato. Sakura smiled fondly at Naruto's antics, and Sasuke felt another twinge as he wondered once again exactly what his two ex-teammates' relationship was.

"Well, Sasuke-san," Sakura said, turning her attention to her patient, "Tsunade-shishou and I have observed your recovery, and she agrees that while it is rather soon, you're healthy enough to be released today." Sasuke inwardly smirked at this. That old snake Orochimaru had been good for _something_ at least. **(A/N: For anyone who isn't caught up on the manga, when Orochimaru tried to take over Sasuke's body, the Uchiha used his Sharingan to reverse the process so that **_**he**_** absorbed **_**Orochimaru**_**. Sasuke now heals faster because of this.)** Sakura continued, "Since you are and Uchiha, Tsunade-sama has decided that you could live in the Uchiha Compound, if that's alright with you." Sakura had basically repeated what Hinata had told him, since they had chosen not to inform the medic-nin that the Hyuuga remembered him quite well. If it hadn't been for their shared past, both as Genin and Academy Students, Hinata would have been rendered unable to inform him what had been planned for his future, due to the natural shyness that many had come to recognize as what made her Hyuuga Hinata.

Sakura was still staring expectantly at him. Sasuke wondered why for a moment before he realized that the last part had been a question, and she was _asking_ him if he wished to return to his old home. Though the honest answer would have been no, and with almost anyone else he would have given it in a heartbeat, the truth of the matter was that Sasuke could not bring himself to tell Sakura that. Instead, he nodded confirmation. Sakura smiled, the same bright smile he remembered from their days together as Genin ninja under the command of Hatake Kakashi.

"Good," she said brightly. "Naruto and I will escort you, and I think that Hinata-chan would like to come as well…" Hinata nodded to verify her willingness, causing Naruto to grin widely.

"We'll help Sasuke-teme, dattebayo!" he cried. Sasuke's heart leapt, and he smirked with amusement. It was odd, really, that Naruto calling him a bastard would make him feel happy.

sasuXsaku

If Uzumaki Naruto had not been Uzumaki Naruto, he would have clamped his hands over his mouth upon saying that to this near-total stranger. As it was, he merely felt a jolt of surprise. Bastard. He had called this man a bastard, and barely even knew him! Somehow, though, it hadn't been an insult, and Sasuke seemed to understand. It had just slipped out. He'd felt it was natural to refer to the other man as teme, just and the smirk he was receiving in turn seemed perfectly natural to him. It was almost as though they had done this before, like he knew Sasuke from somewhere…

sasuXsaku

Haruno Sakura smiled at the antics of her patient and the man she considered to be her brother. She didn't know why, but Naruto referring to Sasuke as Sasuke-teme just seemed so _natural_, as did Sasuke's reply of a smirk. It was almost like she'd seen them do it before…

sasuXsaku

Hyuuga Hinata allowed a small smile to appear on her face at Naruto's choice of a suffix for Sasuke's name. They'd done that in the good old days too, before Sasuke had left the village and Naruto and Sakura had preformed the ritual to make everyone besides her forget. Maybe Naruto was starting to remember. Maybe there was hope…

sasuXsaku

If Naruto and Sakura had been able to sense Sasuke's emotions, they would have picked up on a strong surge of relief, the memory of a feeling that he finally belonged somewhere, and just a twinge of loss for what had once been. But Uchiha Sasuke was a master at masking his true feelings, so none of this reached the attention of the pink haired kunoichi and hyperactive blond. That didn't mean that it wasn't there…

**A/N: Okay, the story is starting to get a little happier. I just planned out the ending today in school, yay for me! It **_**will**_** have a happy ending, whatever it may seem like from my previous stories where I showed no aversion to killing off my characters. (insert evil laughter) But this one will end happily, I promise. At least, it ends happily in the current plan. Who knows if I'll end up changing that… (insert creepy evil music as screen fades to darkness)**


	7. Returning Home

Forgotten Dream

Chapter VI: Returning Home

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. But I have realized that I am one of the people who would be most able to fulfill that 'daily manga chapters if I owned the series' promise, given that these chapters have been coming out at least every day, sometimes twice on days I have off of school. So yeah, I can boast that, but I still do not own the series. T.T**

Sasuke let his eyes wonder freely around his childhood home, now his place of residence once again. Not much had changed; apart from a thick layer of dust, it looked almost exactly as it had ten years ago when he had last set foot here, the night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre. Then again, that may have something to do with the fact that during those ten years, the only people who had been here were ANBU investigating the murder, and they had only been here for a very brief period of time. So in all honesty, the fact that the old manor looked completely the same was something that Sasuke had been very much prepared for. That didn't mean that he could stand the idea of actually living here again, though. Well, he thought as his eyes fell on Sakura, who was gazing around her with an expression of awe on her face, maybe he could stand to live here. He still wasn't looking forward to it. That part would not change for anyone.

"Sasuke-san, it's so big!" the medic-nin exclaimed, a child-like expression of wonder upon her face. Sasuke almost smirked fondly at the sight of it, before he caught himself. He was an Uchiha; Uchiha did not start acting soppy over pretty girls. Wait, he didn't mean the pretty part! Okay, fine he did. He loved Sakura, but that was no excuse to suddenly lose all of his pride and start acting in a way resembling the behavior of the dobe! Though Sasuke would of course act in a _slightly_ more mature manner than his blond companion had ever behaved.

Speaking of the dobe, he was wondering around in the street, gawking at how many buildings there were. Trailing behind him, fidgeting with her hands again, was Hinata. The Hyuuga showed little shock at the size of the Uchiha Compound, though she was probably used to it from living in the Hyuuga Compound all her life. Hinata was the heiress to the Hyuuga clan, after all.

"Naruto. Hinata," Sasuke called. Both perked up at the sound of their names, instantly turning to face Sasuke. "This way," he told them, heading down the main road. It was all coming back to him now as clearly as though it had been ten days since he had last been here, instead of ten years. Turn onto this side road, walk past the torn-up paper lanterns that once displayed the Uchiha clan crest so proudly, and open this door. Step forward, take off your shoes, and you'll be standing in the front room to what had been Sasuke's family's house in the days before the Uchiha clan had been wiped out. Sasuke stared around for a minute, remembering all that had passed within these walls.

"This is home," he said simply. Naruto instantly charged forward to explore the house, Hinata trailing him like a silent specter. It was almost comical how awkward Naruto's presence turned Hinata into a stammering wreck like she hadn't been in years, yet she still chose to follow him like a faithful puppy. Sakura walked more slowly, examining everything like a display of some forgotten culture, instead of just the home of Sasuke's deceased family. Sasuke stood alone in the doorway for a moment longer, lost in his memories, before shaking himself out of the trance and heading off to follow the others.

He found Naruto plopped down on a couch, watching TV. **(A/N: If you look at the clips of Sasuke's home from the episode of the Uchiha Clan Massacre flashbacks, there really is a TV in one of the rooms. They probably don't still get any reception, since no one's been paying the bill for about ten years, but oh well! I'm just pointing out that there actually is television in the Naruto world.)** Hinata hovered in the background uncertainly, and Sakura perched beside Naruto on the aged (and probably completely coated in dust) sofa. Sasuke inwardly smirked with amusement at how apparently comfortable Naruto was just plopping down to watch TV in someone else's house, let alone plopping down to watch TV in someone else's house that most people thought was still haunted by the ghosts of the dead Uchiha. That dobe could do some truly amazing things at times. Then again, it could simply be that he never learned that there were these things called manners. With Naruto, you never knew.

"Hey, Sasuke-teme, wanna watch with us?" Naruto asked, looking up from whatever cartoon he was watching. Sasuke was amazed how quickly Naruto had remembered to add the –teme suffix to his name. Hopefully Sakura would begin to show the same progress soon, and things could hurry up and get back to normal.

"Hn, no thanks, dobe. I'm going to check up on some things here"

"I'll come with you, Sasuke-san," Sakura offered quickly (too quickly?). "You may be strong enough to be released from the hospital, but that doesn't mean that you're back to full health yet, and I don't trust you not to injure yourself and wind up back in that hospital by the end of the day."

"Hn, thanks for your concern, but I can handle myself," he replied, remembering that there had been a time when he would have just had to tell her that she was annoying to get her to leave him alone and dash off in tears. Times changed. Sasuke's heart of ice had thawed, and Sakura had grown up from a giggling little fangirl into the kunoichi she was today. And the kunoichi she was today didn't mind if he didn't want her to come with him. Sasuke sighed inwardly. Sometimes he almost missed the days when she would kill for a chance to talk with him. Almost.

Sasuke moved slowly but deliberately through his house, systematically checking that everything was indeed exactly how he had last seen it apart from the inch or so of dust. **(A/N: I'm American, I say inch. Besides, centimeter just doesn't sound right. A centimeter or so of dust? It just sounds awkward.)** There was one room he purposefully saved for last. Down the outdoor walkway, at the very end, were two sliding double doors. They opened to reveal the room Sasuke had dreaded seeing the most, the room that was the last place in his house he had visited on that fateful night. The room in which his parents had been murdered.

Even after the passage of ten long years, Sasuke fantasized that he could still see the blood on the floor. To his eyes, this room could never be cleansed of it. It would always be tainted by the blood of his parents that had spilled on its floor. Even if he were to live here full time, as he was preparing to, this room would always be left alone. A final memorial to his parents, he supposed.

Sasuke bowed his head as he prayed for his parents' souls. No tears fell from his fathomless onyx eyes. He had cried himself dry over this loss long ago. In his heart, there was only the ache of remembered grief, not eased in the slightest with Itachi's death. He supposed that Kakashi had been correct about that after all. Just as the Jounin had also been right about Sasuke having found something precious in Team Seven: the family that he had thought taken forever from him by Itachi's hands.

Sasuke did not know how long he stood there, head bowed in memory, before he became aware of someone else's chakra coming from somewhere close behind him.

"You can come out now," he instructed them. Obediently, Sakura stepped out from where she had hidden in the shadows, an expression of grief on his behalf upon her kind face.

"It's hard for you to be here, isn't it, Sasuke-san." It was more a statement than a question. "This is where they were killed, weren't they? Your parents, I mean."

"Yeah," he confirmed sadly. "I'll never be able to forget what was taken from me that day. My parents, my big brother, my idol, and my entire family."

"But you found it again, didn't you? When you were with your Genin team. You've told me that they were like a family to you, after you lost yours. You must miss them terribly."

"I do," Sasuke said forlornly. "It would probably be easier if I didn't know that they were still out there somewhere; if they were dead. Now… It's hard, Sakura, to know that the people you love more than your own life don't even know that you're here." There were tears in her eyes as he finished saying this, tears shed for his ancient loss. If only she knew…

"I should probably be going now," she said, wiping the tears from her eyes with her arm and turning to leave. "Goodbye… Sasuke-kun," she said as she turned the corner and left.

_Sasuke-kun._ Did that mean that she remembered?

"Goodbye, Sakura-chan," Sasuke said quietly as he walked slowly down the walkway and entered his old bedroom.

Unknown to Sasuke, two eyes tracked his every movement with the calculating intensity of a predator. Two sickly yellow eyes, whose pupils were mere slits like a snake's. A sinister chuckle came from the figure as it slunk away into the shadows, as snake-like in its movements as in its eyes.

**A/N: A little creepy on the ending there. No, Sakura doesn't remember (quite yet), she just had a moment like Naruto where she says something from back when they were Team Seven without realizing it. Their memories won't be back in full until we near the end of the story. Muhahaha (insert creepy evil theme music… again, as the screen fades into blackness) This creepy theme is fun. (I'm having an odd moment today.)**


	8. A Trip through Town

Forgotten Dream

Chapter VII: A Trip through Town

**Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto still owns Naruto, and I still own nothing except the plot of this story.**

**A/N: Just a note: I finished the last two chapters yesterday, but the site was experiencing technical problems, so I couldn't post either. I've still been writing a chapter a day. I just wanted to say that because it makes me feel special.**

Haruno Sakura awoke at the crack of dawn the next day, only to realize that she didn't have to work at the hospital today, and Kakashi was off on a mission with some other Jounin, so there was no team practice today. In other words, she had woken up early for absolutely no reason.

After lying in bed for half an hour trying vainly to get back to sleep, Sakura realized that it was hopeless, and dressed for the new day.

_Hmm, what to do today?_ Sakura mused. _I think I'll get Naruto and Hinata-chan, and we can show Sasuke-san around Konoha. I'm sure a lot has changed since he was here last; he'd probably like us to show him around._

Sakura was already out the door and halfway to Sasuke's new residence, the Uchiha Compound, before she remembered how she'd said goodbye to him the previous night. More specifically, what she'd called him. She'd said Sasuke-_kun_. It had just slipped off her tongue without her thinking clearly about it, but would Sasuke see it that way? He had that other girl after all, the kunoichi he had confused her with the first time they'd met. He'd probably hate her for forgetting that, for acting as though she had feelings for him when it was obvious that he had already promised his heart to another.

_Please, Kami-sama, let him understand,_ Sakura prayed as she knocked timidly on Sasuke's door.

He answered after only a few seconds, looking not the least bit haggard despite the earliness of the hour. Sakura wondered briefly if he was always awake at 7:00 AM, before suppressing the thought in order to pay attention to the man in front of her.

"Sakura," he addressed her simply. If he had taken offense at her comment the previous night, he chose not to speak of it.

"Hello, Sasuke-san. I was wondering if today you would like to see Konoha. It must have changed a lot since you've been here last." Sakura thought she saw a shadow darken Sasuke's face for a moment at her last comment, but it was gone too fast for her to be sure.

"Alright," he said, nodding stiffly. Sakura breathed a mental sigh of relief. She hadn't realized how nervous she had been that Sasuke would refuse to come, saying that he didn't want anything to do with her after what she had said last night. She really would have to watch her tongue; it was Naruto who made stupid comments, not her.

"Great," she said cheerily. "We can bring Naruto and Hinata-chan with us; I'm sure that they would love to come." Sasuke nodded again, and Sakura set off merrily in the direction of the Hyuuga Compound with Sasuke trailing her like a silent phantom. 

sasuXsaku

Sasuke groaned inwardly as he followed Sakura. He'd hoped that last night had been progress, and she might begin to remember him, but no such luck. It seemed that that had merely been a slip of the tongue, the kind he never made, and she remembered him no more than she had in the hospital two days previously. With a mental sigh of exasperation, he followed her docilely.

sasuXsaku

Sakura would have skipped with joy if she had been the kind of girl who skipped. Here she was, surrounded by her dearest friends, Hinata and Naruto, with no work that needed to be taken care of, and she could not have been happier. Even Sasuke's silent presence contributed to her good mood. Somehow, it just felt right, like he was _supposed_ to skulk on the edge of their conversations yet somehow undisputedly remain a part of their group.

The gang headed into the Ichiraku ramen bar around noon, because Naruto still refused to eat any substance besides ramen. Someday, Sakura vowed to cure him of his ramen addiction, one way or the other. Hinata was little help, saying that she was willing to eat wherever Naruto was and ordering exactly the same meal as him while he blathered on about the merits of the different varieties of Ichiraku ramen. Honestly, Sakura did not see how the shy Hyuuga could put up with her blond companion's incessant chatter for so long. Naruto for his part seemed unaware that Hinata's attention had nothing to do with a shared passion for ramen. Sometimes his continued cluelessness amazed even Sakura. She sighed and shook her head with amusement as she turned away from the awkward pair.

Sasuke looked questioningly at her for the cause of her exasperation. Sakura gestured with a flick of her head, and Sasuke nodded in understanding. It was almost funny that a guy who had known them for two days could pick up on what Naruto had been too blind to see in the six plus years that Hinata had had her crush on him.

After twenty minutes, Naruto still showed no sign of having had his fill of his favorite food. He refused to budge, claiming that since he so rarely had the time to eat at Ichiraku, he should be allowed to enjoy it when he could. Hinata declined to leave also, saying that she would stay to keep Naruto company. Sasuke and Sakura left, Sakura smirking at Naruto's cluelessness. At least Hinata was finally getting some time alone (well, alone except for the old man who owned the shop and his daughter, Ayame) with Naruto. Hopefully he would realize her feelings for him during that time, though since he had managed to remain oblivious to them for the past six years at least, her hopes were not high.

She and Sasuke wondered the streets in silence, lost in their own separate worlds of thought. Sakura had realized something as she left Hinata. Apart from the Hyuuga, she was the only one of the original Genin kunoichi who was currently single, since Tenten got together with Neji a year ago, Temari and Shikamaru set up several months ago, Ino had finally cracked Sai's emotionless shell and gotten him to say yes to a date with her, and it looked like that might soon change for Hinata as well. Somehow, despite the numerous offers of dates Sakura had received from numerous respectable men (and Naruto) over the years, she had never been able to accept any of them. It had always felt like she couldn't fairly say yes to them, because her heart had been promised to another. Which was absurd, because she had never loved anyone. Still, that feeling had refused to go away, and because of it she was still single after everyone else had boyfriends. Life could be troublesome like that at times.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke out of the corner of her eye. The Uchiha also appeared to be lost in his musings. Not for the first time, she wondered what it was about him that attracted her so. From the first time he had spoken to her in the hospital, she had felt close to him in a way that normally took years to establish. Something about him had just seemed familiar, like a long-lost childhood friend. And, Sakura supposed with a blush, he was rather good-looking, and polite, and she got along well with him…

Angrily she shook her head to rid herself of such thoughts. Sasuke had that other girl to come back to; her having feelings for him could only wreck the bond they had, and already Sakura valued Sasuke's friendship too much to risk that. Still, Sakura couldn't help but feel attracted to him slightly beyond the bonds of friendship…

sasuXsaku

Sasuke followed Sakura through the streets of Konoha, lost in thought. While he still terribly missed the bonds that Team Seven had once shared, after only two days Naruto and Sakura were already beginning to accept him. He felt nothing but pleasure at how quickly they had begun to reconnect with each other. Maybe the hope of them being a team once again wasn't so far-fetched after all. Maybe they still did remember him, and all it took was for his presence by their side for those memories to resurface. Maybe in time it could be like he had never left, and they had never forgotten him. Maybe they could return to the glorious family that they had been. Maybe… maybe Sakura could fall in love with him again. Sasuke was not blind; he could see that she felt attracted to him again, though he tactfully avoided mentioning to keep from embarrassing her. Maybe all she needed was to be rid of the idiotic notion that he had some other girl waiting for him, and things could go back to the way that they had been between the two of them…

**A/N: So Sakura's memories are coming back to her some, in the form of her re-having (is that even a word?) feelings for Sasuke. They won't remember for a while, though, or at least not fully. That doesn't happen until near the very end.**


	9. Kidnapped

Forgotten Dream

Ch VIII: Kidnapped

**Disclaimer: Yes, within a day of posting the last chapter I managed to obtain the Naruto copyright. I'm sorry if I mention that a lot, but it is annoying to type one of these every day.**

**Six month timeskip- you'll learn why soon**

**Begin story**

Naruto awoke unusually early for him; it was only 10:00! Grumbling angrily about the stupid sunlight waking him up, he grabbed breakfast: instant ramen (big surprise) with milk (that was not spoiled gasp). In a considerably better temper after his morning ramen, Naruto began to plan what to do today. **(A/N: I know that the odds of Naruto planning anything are somewhere between slim and none, but it's for the sake of the story, so just conveniently ignore that.)** There was no Team Kakashi training, because Kakashi, Sai, and Yamato were all off on a mission together, leaving only Sakura, Sasuke, and himself in Konoha. He was still poor from the last time, so going to eat ramen all day at Ichiraku was out of the question. He couldn't go to see Hinata, because she was off on a mission with the rest of Team Kurenai. 

A faint blush crept over the blond's cheeks at the thought of the pale-eyed Hyuuga. That day when Sakura and Sasuke left them alone at the ramen bar, nearly six months ago now, they had started talking. (Well, he had blathered on about ramen and Hinata had listened.) And talking. And talking. It had lasted for several hours, until Naruto had gone totally broke off buying ramen. He had not been looking forward to Sakura's reaction to the fact that he had once again spent all his money on ramen and needed to borrow some from her in the slightest. So Hinata had offered to lend him some money. At first, he had just gone to see her again to pay her back. Then they had started talking again. Then he had asked her out for ramen again. They had had a wonderful time, and before he knew it, he had asked her if she would like to do it again. Finally, after Sakura punched him in the head a couple of times to make sure the message sunk in through his exceptionally thick skull, he realized that this was the process known among the intelligent folk of the world as 'dating'. When he informed Hinata that they were dating, she had turned an unhealthy shade of red, and promptly fainted, earning Naruto a beating from Neji, who had mistakenly assumed that Naruto had knocked Hinata out. Luckily, Hinata regained consciousness before Naruto was hurt too severely, and was able to confirm the truth of Naruto's statement. They had been going out ever since. Naruto had the threat from Neji about what would happen if Naruto did anything to his cousin hanging over his head to prove it.

So seeing Hinata was out of the question. Sakura was working at the hospital today, and she would probably punch him through the wall if he disrupted her, so that left only one person to annoy, I mean, talk to. Sasuke.

The raven haired Uchiha's relationship with the hyperactive knucklehead of Konoha was odd, to say the least. In the six short months that they had known each other, they had achieved the kind of friendship that generally took years to establish. And yet, Naruto consistently referred to Sasuke as "Sasuke-teme", and Sasuke in turn called Naruto "dobe". Their friendship was a peculiar one, but a great bond nonetheless.

"Heh, we can spar, and this time I can finally beat him, dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed as he dashed off to see his best friend and challenge him to a fight, which was Naruto's odd way of saying that Sasuke was someone that he respected.

The Uchiha Compound, when Naruto arrived at it, had been cleaned up quite a bit since he had first been here six months ago. The torn-up paper lanterns had been taken down, as had anything else that displayed signs of the destruction that had been so absolute on the fateful day of the Uchiha Clan Massacre. The ten year old dried blood had been cleaned away, after much hard work on the part of the members of Team Kakashi. The effect was that the Uchiha Compound looked much the same as it had in the glory days of the Uchiha clan.

Naruto dashed through the various alleys of the Compound, looking for Sasuke's home (which he managed to forget the way to every single time that he came here). When he finally found the correct house, he froze with shock, quickly checking to make sure that this was indeed Sasuke's home, and not just some part that they had forgotten to clean up from the Massacre. It was. With a gulp, Naruto stepped forward through the doorway. The door had been ripped off its hinges.

"Teme? Sasuke-teme?" Naruto called, hesitant for once in his life. In truth, he was afraid what he would see if he managed to find his dark companion.

Almost timidly, Naruto moved to explore the house, hoping against hope not to discover Sasuke's cold body in any of the rooms. Maybe this was all a mistake. Yeah, it could have just been common thieves, and Sasuke dealt with them. Yeah, that had to be it. It had to.

He had made it to the TV room, and still there was no sign of Sasuke. Naruto was worried for his friend. If he found out that someone had hurt Sasuke, they would pay!

Suddenly he heard movement coming from the kitchen.

"Teme!" Naruto cried as he dashed into the other room. "That wasn't nice; I was seriously worried-" He broke off as he realized that it was just a cat. Sasuke was not here. Suddenly, Naruto doubted that was anywhere in the Uchiha Compound. He had known that from the moment that he had seen the door. He had just been trying to deny it. The truth of the matter was, by now, Sasuke was either dead, or kidnapped. Either way, things did not look good for the Uchiha.

later

"SAKURA-CHAAANNN!" Naruto cried as he dashed towards the hospital room where the receptionist had said that Sakura was currently working. He pounded on the door, shouting her name all the while.

"Sakura-chan! Let me in! Sakura-chan!" Naruto's reward for his efforts: a punch that sent him flying into the opposite wall, and a very angry Haruno Sakura hovering over him, her expression demanding an answer.

"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed, her voice full of murderous rage. Suddenly, Naruto realized what would have occurred to most people from the very beginning: maybe quietly asking to speak with Sakura would yield less painful results than shouting for her when she was in the middle of working. But, Naruto being Naruto, he had not realized that, and now it was too late. He started stammering out an explanation.

"Sakura-chan! Sasuke-teme is gone! I went to the Uchiha Compound today and the door was ripped off its hinges and Teme wasn't there and-" he cut off at Sakura's expression, one of worry.

"Naruto, please repeat that._ Slower,_ this time," she told him forcefully, her concern for Sasuke evident on her face.

"I went to the Uchiha Compound at about ten this morning. The door was ripped off its hinges. After conducting a search of the premises, I concluded that Sasuke-teme was not there, and rushed here to inform you," Naruto delivered in the way shinobi had been taught, with clear facts and no fillers. Also, using far bigger words than you would generally find in the vocabulary of Uzumaki Naruto.

"That's what I thought that you said," replied Sakura calmly. "Listen to me very clearly, Naruto. That to most people would not be enough to conclude kidnap or anything else that would merit a retrieval mission. However, if you are _100 sure_ that your gut feeling that Sasuke is kidnapped is correct, I can ask Tsunade-shishou to give us a special mission. But you have to be _completely confident that you are correct. Understood?_"

"Yes, Sakura-chan."

"Good. Now let me ask again: _Are you completely sure that Sasuke was kidnapped?"_ Naruto nodded. "Alright then. I'll have a mission for us by noon. Get your ninja equipment together."

"Thank you Sakura-chan!" Naruto screamed, ecstatic. He dashed off to find his gear, already sure that they would have Sasuke back in to time.

sasuXsaku

Sakura sighed wearily as Naruto left. Where he found that kind of energy was beyond her; it wasn't even noon and she was already tired from all the work she had done that day. And now she had to beg her mentor to give them a mission to find Sasuke, without any definite proof. It was one thing to tell Naruto that it would be done, another thing entirely to actually do it. She was sure that she could, though. It just wouldn't be easy. Sakura sighed again. She had been hoping to save that sake. But, if what Naruto said was true, Sasuke was in trouble, and Tsunade would never give them a mission ordinarily with so little proof. A couple of bottles of sake were a small price to pay for her companion's life. Still, Naruto was paying for the replacements.

**A/N: I was trying for a little irony there with Naruto seeing the cat in the Uchiha Compound. When Sasuke visited there the day after the Uchiha Clan Massacre, he heard a cat in the kitchen and thought that it might be his mom. So Naruto now confuses a cat with the absent Sasuke, who really has been kidnapped. Now, for my explanation of why I had a timeskip. First, I didn't want the entire story to take place in only a couple of days. That just strikes me as being a little too hurried, even though I have had several people ask me to make them remember soon. But more importantly, consider the timeline I have set up, ask yourself when this story takes place. Now remember who was in the bushes (which I haven't actually said, but I tried to make as obvious as possible). Do you get it? If not, I guess that you'll just have to wait... (evil theme music as the screen once again fades into blackness)**


	10. A Face from his Past

Forgotten Dream

Ch IX: A Face from his Past

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I wouldn't have to wonder what is going to happen in next week's manga chapter. Since I am wondering, I obviously do not own the series. (Sorry, I just watched chapter 390 earlier and **_**I want to know what happens next**_

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviews this story; you all make me smile :) I hope you continue to enjoy this, because it's now dedicated to all of you!**

Sasuke awoke in a dingy underground prison cell, his head feeling as though it had been split open. This puzzled him for a moment before his memories of the past few hours caught up with him.

"Damn it!" he hissed, furious with himself. True, there had been no reason for him to suspect an ambush in his own home, but that was no excuse for falling for it! Instead of easily dealing with the intruders, like a proper Uchiha would have, he had been knocked out and taken by them to Kami only knew where. Damn it, damn it, double damn it.

Iron manacles bound him to the wall of his cell. Experimentally, Sasuke shot a small burst of Chidori into them. He screamed in agony as the manacles sent the lightening back into his body, amplified tenfold. Gasping, he hung limply in their iron grip, his body exhausted by the pain. Somewhere nearby in the inky blackness of the cell, Sasuke heard the methodic _drip, drip, drip_ of falling water droplets. Apart from that repeating sound, he was alone in the darkness.

Sasuke did not know how long he hung there for; pondering grimly what fate was to befall him in this hell. He only knew that after some time, he began to hear another sound besides the dripping of water. A soft patting noise, coming closer, ever closer. His enhanced hearing combined with the lack of the presence of other noises in the cell allowed him to hear it long before it drew anywhere near the place in which he was being kept. As the sound neared his cell, Sasuke was able to identify it as the sound of footfalls in the corridor beyond. That was all he was able to conclude before the jingling of keys in a lock was heard, and the door to his cell was shoved open, blinding the Uchiha through even the limited torchlight seeping in from the passageway outside of his cell. Instinctively Sasuke scrunched up his eyes to minimize the amount of light allowed to penetrate his vision. However, his eyelashes also blocked any definite view of the person standing in the doorway, so that all Sasuke could see was a vague outline of a human body until the man drew closer, shutting the door slightly to allow the Uchiha more comfortable vision. As soon as he did, Sasuke wished that he hadn't. He wished that he could be anywhere but here, chained up and completely at the mercy of the man before him.

Stepping into Sasuke's limited field of vision was a man he had hoped never to see again, a man that the Uchiha prodigy had hoped and believed that he killed three years ago. Orochimaru. He had succeeded in taking over Kabuto's body, and the results were terrifying to behold. A misshapen husk of a man stood before him, mutated beyond the point of truly being identifiable as either Kabuto or Orochimaru. Sasuke was not surprised that this had happened. In some deep corner of his mind, he had always suspected that this would someday happen. He had just hoped that when it did, he would be killed honorably on the field of battle, fighting to protect Konoha, his true home even after all this time, rather than chained to the wall of some stinking dungeon in one of the very lairs that he himself had lived in as well only three years ago. He had known that he crossed the line into dishonor when he had left his home village six years previously, but did his actions since leaving Otogakure not redeem him in the slightest? Surely this was too harsh a death sentence even for one such as him?

"Sasuke-kun," the snake Sannin purred upon seeing the look of recognition and contempt that had dawned upon the chained Uchiha's face at the sight of him, effectively drawing Sasuke out of his musings about his fate and back into the present. The older man stroked Sasuke's cheek, tracing the outline of his jawbone fondly. Sasuke shuddered at his touch, barely resisting the urge to cringe away from the snake-like excuse for a man. Orochimaru noticed the look of repulsion appearing upon Sasuke's features and withdrew his hand, stepping backwards as he did so in order to give him a better view of the Uchiha. With a critical eye, he surveyed Sasuke's physical condition, noting the defined muscles that his former pupil still possessed even three years after they had last seen each other. If anything, Sasuke's condition appeared to be even better than it had been during the time when he was under the snake Sannin's tutelage. A greedy light lit up Orochimaru's eyes, and Sasuke once again suppressed the urge to draw away from that hungry gaze. **(A/N: I realize what this is starting to sound like, so I will say this: there is not going to be anything surpassing a P-G13 rating happening in this story. In other words, Orochimaru is **_**not**_** going to do anything perverted here. If you look at my profile, you'll see that that is one of the pairings that I hate the most, and it frankly scares me. I just wanted you to know, I am not about to start writing really creepy stuff here.)**

"Yes, you'll do marvelously," Orochimaru informed him in a sinister voice. Sasuke glared contemptuously at the man that he now regretted ever having called sensei. (Purely figuratively, of course, because Sasuke had never applied any honorifics to Orochimaru's name in the entire time he had stayed with him.) "Frankly, Sasuke-kun, I was worried that those Konoha nin might spoil you during the time you returned to them. They never really understood _your_ particular needs, after all. But it appears that you still hold the same fire in your heart that you possessed when you were younger, I am very pleased with that. It would not due if time had dulled your hatred." Sasuke's face twisted into a feral snarl at Orochimaru's words, causing the older man to chuckle with amusement. "Yes, you still hate, even though Itachi had passed on to the next life. Once it inhabited your soul, causing you to flee to me, you would never be able to escape its clutches. You were a marked man from the start, Uchiha Sasuke." Orochimaru paused to allow time for the words to sink in, torturing Sasuke with his words. _Don't do it, Sasuke_, the Uchiha cautioned himself. _Don't say anything. It's what he wants; to be able to hurt you and turn your own words of protest against you. You'd just be playing right into that snake's hands. Whatever you do, don't say anything. Don't say anything. Don't attack him. Just glare. Glares can't be turned against you. Don't react beyond that. Don't react…_

"Do you want me to tell you a little secret, Sasuke-kun?" Orochimaru continued teasingly. Moving closer so that he could whisper it into Sasuke's ear, he continued, "This time, I will take your body. And I will destroy Konohagakure Village once and for all. Just imagine it. That Kyuubi boy and the girl who were so precious to you before you left, being torn apart, ripped limb from limb, all thanks to a new power that you will help me to finally gain after all this time. _Your_ power, Sasuke-kun. It is the power of your Sharingan that will give me the strength to do what I was unable to do before, to truly become the most powerful ninja in history. It will all be thanks to you." Rage smoldered in Sasuke's eyes at what he was being told, and he glared back at Orochimaru with undisguised contempt.

"And just think," Sasuke's former mentor continued, aiming to completely destroy the Uchiha using only his words, "if they come to try to rescue you, as you and I both know that they will… I'll, or should I say _you'll_, be able to kill them all the sooner. Maybe I'll even be able to do it before your spirit has entirely fled. Imagine it, the great Uzumaki Naruto, heroically rushing in to save his best friend in the nick of time, only to discover that you have already passed on, and all that remains is me. I'll be sure to kill him wearing your face, if that happens. I think that he would like to see a familiar face as he dies, don't you, Sasuke-kun?" At this point Sasuke was no longer able to take it. He lunged at Orochimaru, forgetting the chains binding him, attempting to run the other clean through using his Chidori. As soon as the chirping noise of the lightning was heard, however, the manacles binding him responded, absorbing the power of his attack and channeling it back into his own body. Sasuke howled with pain as Orochimaru looked on with distinct amusement.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun, are you really in such a hurry for me to kill you? Don't worry, it won't be too long. I will be able to conduct the soul transfer ritual tomorrow night." With that and an evil-sounding chuckle, Orochimaru left the cell. As soon as the door closed behind the other man, Sasuke allowed the despair he felt at Orochimaru's words to make its way into his actions. He collapsed limply in the grip of the iron manacles again, wrapped in the sinister embrace of despair, unable to dredge up even the small amount of energy necessary to maintain the pride of holding himself up. In the inky darkness of the cell, the methodic _drip, drip, drip_ of falling water droplets was all that could be heard. And if one extra drip was heard, if one droplet of salty water fell from Sasuke's eye, no one was around to know for certain.

"Hurry up, Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried from up ahead. With a firm look in her eye, Sakura added an extra burst of chakra into her next jump, propelling her forward so that she was even with her blond teammate. The usual laughter that could be found in Naruto's face was gone. It had been replaced by a seriousness that Sakura had rarely seen before in the man that had been her companion since childhood. The only other time she could recall seeing it was when they had been assigned to rescue Gaara from the Akatsuki. This was another side of Naruto altogether, one that he rarely showed to anyone. This was the side that was determined to protect those he held dear, no matter the cost to himself. Sakura felt an answering call in her own heart, the call of her own desire to protect Sasuke. Whoever had taken him was going to have to pay for hurting someone that she cared about. Sakura would see to it that she did, even if to do so she had to journey to the gates of Hell and beyond in order to do it. She would. No one was allowed to hurt those she cared about. Not anymore. Not when she had trained for three years as Tsunade's apprentice, until the Sannin herself had been forced to acknowledge that the young kunoichi had surpassed her. She would never lose anyone that she cared about again. Not after she had already lost… wait, who had she lost? Sakura couldn't remember; it was like a black fog covered all her memories of this person. But there had been someone, someone who had meant the world to her. They had been lost to her and Naruto, and they refused to ever let that happen again. She refused, Haruno Sakura refused. Whoever it was who had taken Sasuke from her, they would pay. Even if it cost Sakura her life, they would pay.

**A/N: Sakura **_**almost**_** remembered just then. To those of you who are waiting on the edge of your seats, they will remember soon. Only a few more chapters left. (evil laughter and screen fades to blackness… did you know that asterisks, the little symbols you get when you press the shift key while typing an 8, don't show up on the site! I had that set off in asterisks every time, and I only figured out that it didn't work when I watched my best friend Selena read the last few chapters last night. Haha, even Selena doesn't know what I'm planning on doing with this story. I love being evil.) **


	11. Dream Encounter

Forgotten Dream

Chapter X: Dream Encounter

**Disclaimer: Since Sasuke still has not come back to Konoha and I seem rather obsessed with the idea of him coming back, I think that we can all infer that I do not own Naruto.**

Haruno Sakura followed Naruto dutifully through the darkness, not daring to complain about the fatigue that plagued her, lest Naruto decide that they needed to stop for the night. Normally, deciding when they needed to call it a night on missions was her job, which was why Naruto hadn't said anything yet, despite the sun having set, bringing with it the darkness of night over two hours ago. Yet on this mission, she found herself unable to tolerate the idea of stopping to rest for the night, even though she clearly needed it. If they stopped to rest, they would be delaying in their mission to rescue Sasuke from whoever had taken him, something that Sakura refused to do. So she leapt on through the depths of the night, getting ever closer to their goal.

"Sakura," Pakkun, one of Kakashi's ninja dogs who had been lent to them for the tracking portion of this mission, called out to her, causing her to pause on the branch he sat on.

"Pakkun, why are we stopping?! We need to keep going, so that we can save Sasuke!" Sakura cried vehemently, her voice ringing in the stillness of the night. She noticed that Naruto also stood next to Pakkun, the look on his face identical to the one on the dog's.

"We need to rest now," the dog informed her in a businesslike manner. He cut off her protest to the idea by continuing, "It's already been dark for two hours, and I'm getting to be too tired to track the scent. If we don't rest now, we'll just arrive at wherever Sasuke is being held, only to be too exhausted to do anything." Sakura's face showed plainly that she was about to protest this with everything that she had (including her inhuman strength) until she succeeded in getting her way. Seeing this, Naruto chose to interrupt now, rather than later, when it might cost him a couple of limbs to do so.

"Sakura-chan," he cautioned her gently, "we need to rest. Think of what Sasuke-teme would want you to do. Do you really think that he wants you to kill yourself in just tracking him, and then show up and be too tired to do anything besides collapse and be captured along with him? He'd just say that you were being stupid, and probably call you useless. Do you want him to call you useless? Sakura-chan, please, just listen to Pakkun and rest without complaint!" Honestly, Sakura wasn't sure if it was Naruto's words or the fact that Naruto was agreeing with Pakkun to _be cautious and conscious of their limits_ (something that he never did) that got through to her, but either way, she was convinced. Much as she hated the idea, she needed to rest now, so that she could save Sasuke when the time came.

Angrily, Sakura punched her pillow, then lay down to sleep, her exhaustion getting the better of her fury at their inability to make any further progress that night.

_Sasuke,_ she thought just before the blackness of sleep consumed her entirely, _you'd better not let yourself get killed before we can get there. Because if you do, I swear that I'll never forgive you._ The thought would have been a harsh one, if not for the smile that adorned her lips. She wasn't so much angry with Sasuke, as she was afraid of what might befall him before they could arrive to save him. She refused to lose Sasuke too, not after she had already lost that other person, the one who she could not remember. The one that she was fairly certain she had loved. That was all she could remember of that person who had meant the world to her and to Naruto: a warm glow of love, and the last thing that he had said to her before she lost him forever. 

"_Sakura... arigatou_."

sasuXsaku

Deep within the depths of Orochimaru's dungeons, Sasuke hung limply in his chains, gripped by the iron clutches of despair. Naruto and Sakura would come. He knew that they would. He would almost feel insulted if they didn't. Yet when they did, all that would come of it would be their deaths. Sasuke refused to be the cause of their hurt yet again. But it seemed that that was the only thing that he could do: wait here, encouraging Naruto and Sakura run forward to meet their deaths. Life could be cruel. Sasuke bowed his head with the shame of what he was unwillingly doing at this very moment.

_Please, Kami, don't let them come here. Don't let me be the one to hurt them again. Please, keep them away from here. Please…_

sasuXsaku

In Sakura's sleeping mind, she heard a voice calling out to her. A ghostly figure appeared ahead of her. With a shriek of delight she recognized the person: it was him, the one who she and Naruto had lost all those years ago. Eagerly she raced forward, calling out to him. The figure turned sadly towards her, and Sakura noticed that his face was concealed by a fog.

"Sakura." He said her name in the same tone of voice that she remembered from the last time that they had ever spoken to each other, hard-edged, yet somehow gentle at the same time, with a faint tint of love to it. "Don't come any closer," he instructed her firmly. Sakura opened her mouth to protest at the thought of not being able to see him once again, but he cut across her, harsh and demanding. "I mean it. Don't go looking for me. Just go back to Konoha. You belong there. Go home. Forget that you ever knew me." Her eyes welled with tears at his harsh words.

"No," she breathed, more a plea than an argument. "Please no. Please, I don't think that I could bear it…" she trailed off into tearful sobs that shook her entire frame. In a one swift movement, the other person suddenly appeared directly behind her, close enough that if she were to turn around she could hug him. But she couldn't. Somehow, she was unable to turn around, unable to do anything but stand here, crying helplessly at the idea of losing this person forever.

Calloused hands reached from behind her to wipe away a tear trailing down her cheek. She smiled sadly at the gentleness of his touch.

"It's for your own good," he told her, a trace of kindness making its way into his voice now. "Please don't come."

"I can't do that. I love you." The figure smiled sadly at her. **(A/N: Sakura can see what expression is on his face because the fog only obscures his features so that she conveniently can't tell who it is. The face she sees is blurry enough to not be able to identify a person, but clear enough to make out expressions, if that made any sense to you.)**

"I wish that you weren't so stubborn," he told her, his voice in equal parts serious and teasing. She smiled sadly back at him, matching his expression with one of her own. "Goodbye, Sakura." She tensed.

"No! Please, don't leave-" Sakura broke off. Her companion had already begun to fade, like a morning mist in the face of sunlight. He was leaving her alone again. She let out a strangled sob at how close he had been, only to be lost to her again. The figure dissolved completely, leaving only her memory to show that he had ever been.

"Arigatou," the word carried on a small puff of wind as the sunlight began to shine. It was so soft that Sakura could not even be sure that she had actually heard it. But she knew deep within her heart of hearts that she had, and it was his way of saying farewell to her for the second time as he left her, alone with the renewed ache of loss in her chest. In her dream, Sakura bowed her head and cried, the tears making their way onto her real face, reflecting the light of the moon like tiny pearls of sorrow.

sasuXsaku

Sasuke gasped as he was thrust back into his physical body from the spirit realm. His new technique was not easy, and a dangerous amount of his chakra had been used up. But it had been necessary. He only wished that he had something to show for it, rather than just Sakura's refusal to leave him here. In a way though, he was glad that she had refused. Even though he hated the thought of her and Naruto rushing so eagerly to their deaths, that did not change the fact that deep within his soul, he had wished for her to say that, to refuse to leave him. He had hoped that she still loved him and would rather die than abandon him. Sasuke just wished that he could have found that out some other way, rather than at the price of their lives.

sasuXsaku

The first traces of dawn's milky fingers touched over the horizon, illuminating Sakura's sleeping face. She awakened at once, stretching muscles stiff from last night's sleep. Today they could continue on, and rescue Sasuke. She somehow knew that today would be the day that they arrived, just as the predator knew that it was going to catch its prey. They would arrive, and they would save him, she could feel it. With a smirk of confidence in her abilities, she moved to wake Naruto and Pakkun and continue on their quest to save Sasuke.

Sakura remembered none of what had happened in her dream the night before.

**A/N: Sasuke's technique is the ability to separate from his physical body and travel in the spirit realm. I know that that's totally out of the Naruto universe style, but so was the ritual that started this whole story. I'm sort of messing with the principals of the ninja techniques, and changing them into a form of magic. (Which they were not originally.) My justification: I'm the writer; I can do that if I want. I never said that this was an entirely in-universe style fanfic; it's just set so that it is mostly just a variation of the plot set down by the manga.**


	12. Infiltration

Forgotten Dream

Chapter XI: Infiltration

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I'm running out of creative ways to say that, so that's all I'm going to say on the subject.**

Sasuke did not know if it was the next morning or still the same night or another day altogether when the guards came for him. He couldn't even summon the strength to attack them in a final act of defiance. Captivity coupled with the knowledge that even now the two people he cared about more than his own life were rushing toward their deaths had robbed the Uchiha of any strength his body possessed, leaving behind a pathetic, broken shell of a man. He could only feebly stir as they bound his hands and feet with more chakra-resistant chains, and then follow them docilely down the corridor, towards whatever new torture Orochimaru had in mind for him. Honestly, after the mental pain he had been putting himself through ever since the snake had left him alone in his cell, he would almost welcome physical suffering as a distraction from the ever-present ache in his soul.

Without any sign of protesting, Sasuke marched towards his doom.

sasuXsaku

Naruto stared at the entrance to the hideout where Pakkun said that Sasuke's scent led to. Somewhere within those walls, dwelled whoever it was who had taken his friend. Somewhere within those walls, he would find whoever it was, and he would make them pay for anything that they might have done to Sasuke in the time that he had been their prisoner.

"It's Orochimaru," the ninja hound informed him somberly. Orochimaru? That snake?! He was the one who had taken Sasuke!? Naruto was furious; he already hated Tsunade and Jiraiya's former teammate for the things that had been done to innocent people in his name, Sasuke's kidnapping only stoked the flames of Naruto's fury at the snake Sannin. 

_Hang in there, Sasuke-teme;_ he thought silently, hoping that somehow the message would reach his captive friend.

sasuXsaku

Sakura drew a kunai knife from the pouch on her thigh. There was no sign of any enemies being present yet, but experience had taught her that it was better to be safe than sorry, especially when Orochimaru was concerned. Beside her, Naruto drew his own weapon. Sakura nodded stiffly to Pakkun, who took off without a sound. The ninja dog had told them long ago that he was no use in a fight; now that the tracking portion of the mission was completed, Pakkun's presence was no longer necessary.

Quietly, she and Naruto crept forward into the lair, into the belly of the beast. 

sasuXsaku

Sasuke walked numbly forward, dreading what was to come and yet at the same time looking forward to it. At least now it could finally end. The suffering he was to cause others would go on long after his death, but at least he would no longer be forced to witness it. In that way, the knowledge that certain death awaited him at the end of this march was strangely comforting to the Uchiha.

sasuXsaku

A squad of ninja met them midway down the first corridor. Sakura smirked at Naruto as the two of them threw themselves forward into the battle. A whirlwind of chaos ensued, in which the two Konoha shinobi tried not to kill needlessly. Whenever possible, it was considered a part of the duty of a Leaf ninja to spare the lives of enemies, so that they could be properly tried for their crimes, especially in the case of the ninja of Otogakure, who were more often than not common civilians tricked by Orochimaru into becoming weapons for his use.

Sakura dodged under a kick aimed for her head, managing to hit her attacker's ankles, knocking the shinobi off balance. She hit the pressure point at the back of his neck to finish the job, and turned to face her next opponent, her earlier smirk still plastered on her face. She was a kunoichi, a unique killing machine. This was what she had been trained to do.

sasuXsaku

Naruto wasn't even panting as he hit another attacker in the side with a shuriken. The blow was not serious, but it was enough with the poorly-trained shinobi produced by Otogakure. Orochimaru only bothered to put real effort into training a select few, and those that he did were never used as common foot soldiers. The entire squad of Sound ninja had been taken out in a matter of minutes by the two leaf nin, without forcing Naruto or Sakura to kill even once.

Naruto grinned with satisfaction at Sakura. With a kind of grim amusement, she smirked back at him. The two teammates proceeded on; deeper into the maze of tunnels that was Orochimaru's current base.

sasuXsaku

The chamber where Sasuke's guards led him resembled a cathedral, though horribly altered. Instead of a place of sanctity, it felt more like the gateway to his fears, a shadowy place in which the malevolent presences of the night were particularly potent, and unseemly acts would be committed. This was to be the place where he would die, then. A dark part of his mind found it appropriate, in an ironic sense. After all, when he left the village, he had changed from a shinobi warrior, one sworn to protect what he believed in, into a demon, one of the darker minions of hell. It was fitting that he should die in a place such as this, away from the sunlight and bright joy of the outside world. Deep in his soul, Sasuke knew that he would die here, in the nest of the demons.

sasuXsaku

Sakura checked her remaining supply of weapons, shocked when she found that there were none left. They had been attacked by ten more squads of ninja along the way. Ten. Whatever Orochimaru was doing here, it must be big, if he was willing to post ten squads of ninja to stop intruders. At least she hadn't been forced to use any chakra. Even without weapons, Sakura posed one hell of a threat to anyone in her way. Any security that caught them now would have to worry about something far more deadly than a casual use of weapons, aimed more to incapacitate than to kill. Sakura smirked. She didn't need weapons. Her body was a weapon far superior to any kunai or shuriken ever made.

sasuXsaku

Naruto's eyes were beginning to glow the bright red that signaled the Kyuubi beginning to take control. Angrily he shook his head to clear it, determined to maintain control. On a mission three and a half years ago, he had hurt Sakura while under the demon fox's influence. His squad captain at the time, Yamato, had told him that if he ever truly wanted to save someone, he should do it with his own power, not the demon's. If he really wanted to save Sasuke now, the Nine Tailed Fox had no place in the battle.

sasuXsaku

Sasuke gave no sign of either protest or elation as the chains binding his hands and feet were undone. He wearily rubbed the enflamed skin of his wrist, trying to restore circulation to his hands. It seemed as though there was almost no point in protest of any sort. Orochimaru would win in the end.

_Yes, that's right. Orochimaru will win in the end_, an ominous little voice in his head told him. Dimly, Sasuke recognized that he was being held in a genjutsu designed to inspire despair in his mind, yet as soon as the thought occurred, he found himself thinking that it was pointless to know why he felt so certain of his doom. After all, Orochimaru would win in the end.

The Uchiha barely even stirred as said snake entered the room, an evil glint in his eye.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun," he hissed in that raspy voice of his. Orochimaru would win in the end.

sasuXsaku

Sakura stared down the passageway at the ornately carved wooden door at its end. Sasuke's chakra was emanating from the room beyond it, so she and Naruto would go there. Even if it cost them their lives, they would go there, and they wouldn't leave without Sasuke with them.

That thought giving her an extra boost of energy, Sakura increased her speed, all but sprinting in the direction of the door at the end of the tunnel.

Out of the shadows stepped a sinister figure. He stood in front of the door, barring any further progress until he was defeated. Yoroi Akado. **(A/N: That guy who fought Sasuke in the Chuunin Exam preliminaries, not that they would remember that. I couldn't think of any other Sound guys, since I killed Kabuto off when Orochimaru succeeded in taking over his body and the actual series already killed off the Sound Five and the Sound Genin team from the Forest of Death. Well, there was the guy who fought Kankuro, but he had even less of a role than this guy.)**

"Your opponent," Yoroi said dangerously, "is me."

sasuXsaku

Naruto glared at the man in front of him, wishing that the phrase 'if looks could kill' was more than just and expression. They had no time for this! Sasuke was here, now, and he was in danger, and they were expected to waste their time fighting this guy?!  
Naruto drew his last kunai. Beside him, he felt Sakura begin to gather her chakra in her hand to punch him. Without even speaking, they knew the plan. He would appear to attack Yoroi, while Sakura hovered in the background. As soon as the Otogakure shinobi was occupied with Naruto, she would come in with one of her inhumanly strong punches to finish him off. It was a routine they had used countless times before, each time resulting in the death of their opponent.

Across from him, Yoroi moved into a fighting stance. The tension in the narrow corridor could be sliced with a knife as both sides squared off.

Like lightning, Naruto charged forward, bringing up his kunai as he did so to aim it at Yoroi's heart. There was no point in making his attack just a distraction if it could work.  
The other man ducked under Naruto's weapon, punching him in the stomach as he did so. Behind him, Naruto felt the movement of air as Sakura charged forwards, her fist raised to give the blow that would end the Oto ninja's life.

Almost lazily, Yoroi ducked again, coming under Sakura's fist. As she overbalanced, he caught her forehead in his outstretched palm. The green glow of Sakura's chakra began to appear on his hand, being sucked greedily from her body as Yoroi preformed the jutsu that (though Naruto and Sakura did not remember it) had almost been Sasuke's undoing during the first Chuunin Exam that the three had participated in. Naruto heard his friend's scream of shock as her strength began to leave her body.

sasuXsaku

Sasuke heard a blood-curdling scream coming from the corridor outside. _Sakura! _His mind wailed, fear for his pink-haired friend temporarily overshadowing Orochimaru's genjutsu.

_It does not matter. _The dismal little voice was back. _Orochimaru will win in the end._

Almost reduced to tears of utter agony at the current predicament, Sasuke bowed his head in grief at the certain death that awaited Sakura. She would die, and Naruto with her. Orochimaru looked on eagerly, thriving on Sasuke's despair. Soon, it would be time for the ritual to begin, and then he could claim all of this boy's immense power as his own. In the mean time, the snake drew cruel satisfaction from the pain that he knew he was making the Uchiha experience. He lifted Sasuke's chin with two of his fingers, gazing hungrily into the hopeless onyx eyes that stared blankly back at him.

The snake could almost hear the final agonizing screams that he would force from Sasuke's lips before he killed the boy.

sasuXsaku

Sakura glared at Yoroi. Where moments before she had felt strength and fury, there was only lethargy, as though her limbs had been replaced with lead. All she could manage to do now was to glare at him.

Sakura heard laughter, like the hissing of a snake, coming from the chamber beyond. Orochimaru. He was the one who had caused this, the one who had taken Sasuke. He had hurt countless innocents, and now he wanted to hurt her friends as well. Suddenly, Sakura found that she did have some strength left after all.

sasuXsaku

Naruto glanced anxiously at Sakura as she stood up. Mere seconds ago, she had been laying on the stone floor of the corridor, looking as though she did not have any strength left in her body. Now, she stood proudly beside him, glaring at their opponent, at the man who dared to keep them from saving their friend. Naruto was concerned for her; the last thing that he wanted to happen was for Sakura to hurt herself by using up too much energy.

Sakura saw his glance and the concern in it.

"Don't worry about me, Naruto. I'll be fine." He nodded, still not entirely convinced, but willing to accept her aid in the battle to come.

Naruto charged forward, Rasengan in hand.

sasuXsaku

Orochimaru could feel it when the rejection process began. It felt much the same as it had in all his other bodies; first came a slight pain, and then he began to cough up his own blood. He welcomed the pain though, and its familiarity, with only a trace of regret. It was a pity; he had hoped that Kabuto would have been strong enough for him to remain in his body forever. Well, he supposed that he should have expected this. If Kabuto really had been strong enough to handle Orochimaru's power permanently, then the great snake would not have been able to take control of his body from him in the first place. Besides, he didn't need Kabuto any longer. Not when directly in front of him, completely at his mercy, was Uchiha Sasuke, the last of the Uchiha clan.

sasuXsaku

Sasuke could see the change in the intensity of Orochimaru's gaze. Instead of longing and demonic hunger, there was now a look of malignant satisfaction. The time of the ritual was at hand then. Sasuke could barely even bring himself to feel any fear at the idea that he would die within a few short minutes.

sasuXsaku

Sakura saw what Naruto was planning with his Rasengan. It was not supposed to strike Yoroi. Naruto anticipated that the Sound shinobi would dodge, in fact, he hoped for it. His real target was the door behind Yoroi. He was going to save Sasuke now.

Smirking, she began to gather her chakra into her fist for one last attack. The amount of chakra that had been drained from her by just that one hit was astounding, and Sakura could sense that this punch was the only thing that she had the energy left to do.

Following Naruto's example, she charged.

sasuXsaku

Naruto felt Sakura begin her charge behind him. This was just like their first attack, only this time they were aiming to miss. He would demolish the door with his Rasengan, and she would follow to attack whoever awaited them in the chamber beyond.

The rush of satisfaction at how quickly the Rasengan began to slice through the wooden door was the last thing that Naruto felt before everything began to go wrong.

**A/N: Sorry, but that just screamed 'cliffhanger'. Please don't kill me! The next update may take a little while, because this is the climax of the story and I want to make sure that it sounds good. A little while means a couple of days, not even a full week. I won't make you guys wait for too long. Sorry if the fight between Yoroi and Naruto and Sakura sucked; I find it really hard to write good fight scenes.**


	13. Sacrifice

Forgotten Dream

Chapter XII: Sacrifice

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Naruto.**

Sakura charged forward, aiming to follow Naruto into the cathedral beyond and attack Orochimaru. The fury of battle lit up her eyes, blinding her to all but her target. It was because of this that she didn't see Yoroi coming at her until it was too late.

sasuXsaku

"Sakura!" The scream tore from Sasuke's lips against his will. No matter how little he wanted to give Orochimaru the satisfaction of seeing him hurt by the attack on his former teammate, he couldn't bear to watch her pain without making some noise of dissent.

She had charged courageously forward, battle fury beginning to overcome her usual calm. It was this that had been her undoing. Sasuke remembered Yoroi from his fight with him in the Chuunin Exams, and he remembered what power the Otogakure shinobi possessed. Charging straight forward in his direction was suicide in battle. Yoroi moved almost too fast for Sasuke to see without his Sharingan. He lunged forward, grasping the forehead of Sasuke's pink-haired friend. Her chakra began to leave her body before she had even fully noticed what had happened.

Sakura's body went limp, signaling that she had been drained of all her chakra. Contemptuously, Yoroi threw her aside. She hit the wall with a cry of pain and slid down, not rising. Sasuke could tell by the faint rise and fall of her chest that she was alive, but only barely.

Naruto turned to face the man who had done that to Sakura, the Kyuubi already beginning to take control of his body. Sasuke stared with pain-filled eyes at his blond companion, knowing that Naruto's attack would be in vain. Yoroi could absorb a demon's chakra just as well as he could a human's. As a close-combat type, Naruto was already done for.

Orochimaru noticed the despair in Sasuke's eyes. The snake leered evilly at him before speaking.

"Sasuke-kun, I think I may actually decide to kill the Kyuubi brat now, before I take your body. I understand that you would have liked for me to use you, in order to prove to him once and for all that your abilities are superior to his, but I grow weary of his foolishness. Maybe you can meet again in the next life to determine who is stronger." Sasuke glared at him, utter hatred in his eyes. The genjutsu was all but gone now, and Sasuke felt none of the hopelessness that had so plagued him earlier. He felt only a blinding fury, directed at the man before him.

Seeing this, Orochimaru smirked at him, flicking his hand contemptuously at the Uchiha as he did so. Sasuke suddenly felt a sharp burst of pain in the side of his neck, and he doubled over, clutching the curse seal. It felt as though it was on fire, like it hadn't since Kakashi had sealed it for him over six years ago. Gasping for breath, he glared up at Orochimaru.

"The seal naturally responds to my presence, Sasuke-kun. I had numbed it for you when you first came to me six years ago; after all, it would not do for you to have been in pain every second that you spent training with me. But you have proved yourself unworthy of my gift, and so I have taken it back. The pain should be enough to keep you from interfering in my fight." With that he strode away, to attack Naruto beside Yoroi, leaving Sasuke on the floor, clutching at the mark on his neck and struggling to keep breathing through the pain.

sasuXsaku

Naruto wished then that he could run to Sasuke's aid. He had seen what Orochimaru had done to the dark-haired Uchiha, and it had only increased the sense of hatred that Naruto felt for the man. No one should be allowed to treat another human being like that, especially when they were as awful as Orochimaru.

Yoroi smirked at him, or at least Naruto assumed that he smirked, for like Kakashi he wore a mask covering the lower portion of his face. The Sound ninja aimed another blow at Naruto, and the Jinchuuriki barely managed to dodge it. Orochimaru appeared beside Yoroi, and Naruto felt for the first time a sense of despair. Summoning even more of the Kyuubi's power, he redoubled his attack on the two men standing before him.

Against the wall, Sakura still had not moved.

sasuXsaku

Sakura stirred on the edges of consciousness, able to just barely make out what was going on around her, but unable to contribute to it in the slightest. She moaned at the pain in her head where it had struck the wall, dimly aware that she was lucky to be alive after hitting a wall of stone with such force.

Sakura heard only a soft murmuring as Orochimaru spoke to Sasuke, though the Uchiha's screams of agony managed easily to permeate her small amount of consciousness. _Sasuke-kun,_ she thought sadly, unsure of exactly where the –kun came from but thinking it all the same. Orochimaru would pay for hurting Sasuke.

Slowly, painfully, Sakura opened her eyes. Sasuke crouched near the center of the room, on his hands and knees, grunting in pain. Even with only the dim grasp of the situation that Sakura's tired mind was able to form, she was aware of Sasuke more than all the others in the room; it was as though the fog that surrounded her vision at the moment was absent whenever she looked at him, as though her heart were attuned to his. She could hear his every soft cry of pain, even as the shouts of the others muted themselves to her ears.

sasuXsaku

Naruto was failing against the fearsome onslaught that he now faced. The Jinchuuriki could barely hold his own against the combined attacks of Orochimaru and Yoroi, even with the added strength of the Kyuubi. He leapt away from Orochimaru's Striking Shadow Snake Jutsu, landing on the cold stone floor a few feet away, panting. The snake pulled back, vanishing to whatever dimension it had originally come from. Orochimaru stepped forward in its place, smirking evilly at Naruto.

"Yoroi, I think that now would be an ideal time to finish this brat off, don't you agree? After all, he is of no real use to us, weakling that he is. It's about time that we put him out of his misery," the serpent-like man hissed. Naruto felt an answering wave of fury within himself. How dare that pathetic excuse for a human call him weak! Yoroi lunged forward at the command, preparing the blow that would drain Naruto of any energy that he possessed.

The Demon Fox's Cloak began to form around the boy. Snarling like some wild animal, Naruto blocked Yoroi's extending hand with his own arm. The Sound nin recoiled, burned by the red chakra forming to surround the boy. There was a look of horror upon the small portion of his face that could be seen, and even Orochimaru seemed wary of the rapidly transforming Naruto. The first tail had already formed, though there were no signs of any more following it. Naruto had increased his control over the demon over the years, until he could consciously suppress its full chakra even as the Cloak began to form. With a feral growl, Naruto turned the full force of a Jinchuuriki's fury on the two Otogakure ninja.

sasuXsaku

Sasuke could see the tide of battle turning, even through the haze of pain from his curse seal. Naruto had somehow generated more power, without calling upon any additional aid from the demon. Once, there had been a time when such a feat by the former drop-out would have left Sasuke sick with envy and fury at the rapid growth of his rival. Now, he felt only strong sense of relief. Maybe they weren't all doomed after all. Maybe Naruto would be able to come through for them, and slay the two enemy ninja. Sasuke could only hope so. If Naruto failed, then they would all die.

sasuXsaku

Sakura could barely see anything through the fog obscuring her vision, but what she saw reassured her immensely. Naruto was attacking their enemies with renewed vigor, forcing them back. It seemed that the unpredictable knucklehead had pulled another one of his famous tricks, and would be able to save them after all.

_Naruto,_ Sakura thought, relaxing her aching body slightly now that it appeared that the situation was coming under control, _thank you._

sasuXsaku

Naruto grinned with satisfaction. He was doing it! He was fighting the genius of the Sannin, an S-class missing-nin who even Sasuke himself had been unable to destroy fully (not that Naruto had been told of that little fact), and he was winning. His heart singing with triumph, Naruto dealt a strong blow to the head of Yoroi, knocking the Sound ninja down. He did not rise. The utter stillness of his body proclaimed him dead. Half-possessed by the Kyuubi though Naruto was, he still felt a slight sting in his heart at being forced to kill. It was necessary to protect Sasuke and Sakura, true, but that did not make the deed any less horrible.

sasuXsaku

Orochimaru noticed Yoroi fall with calm disdain. He cared none for the life of his subordinate; the man had just been a pathetic attempt at a replacement for Kabuto. Kabuto, on the other hand, had been a valuable tool, and Orochimaru wished that his own return had not required the loss of one of his most loyal subjects. Still, it had been a necessary sacrifice, one that Kabuto had brought upon himself when he dared to integrate himself with Orochimaru's remains in a foolish attempt to surpass the Sannin genius.

However, Yoroi's death made him fully aware of the very real danger to himself that was now posed by Uzumaki Naruto. That child had been a nuisance to Orochimaru for far too long; it was time to end this once and for all. There was just one small problem. Protected as he was by the Demon Fox's Cloak, any attack aimed at Naruto was doomed to fail. There was only one thing that Orochimaru could think of doing that might bring an end to the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki.

Orochimaru drew a kunai and threw it, not aiming for Naruto, but instead for the body behind him. The kunai flew, straight and true, directly at Uchiha Sasuke.

sasuXsaku

The fog clouding Sakura's vision cleared suddenly, allowing the next few moments to unfold before her with blinding clarity. The kunoichi watched, the events in front of her occur, apparently in slow motion, all sound taken from the scene.

The kunai flew at Sasuke, who, gripped in the pain of his curse seal responding to the malignant presence of Orochimaru, had not the necessary speed or reflex to dodge it.

_Not Sasuke._

Her friend sluggishly began to move out of the way, though it was painfully clear that his efforts would all be in vain.

_Please, not Sasuke._

Naruto reacted, moving to help their fallen comrade. Orochimaru cut him off, a look of purely evil satisfaction upon the snake's hated face. He would not allow the Jinchuuriki to interfere to save the life of his closest friend.

_Sasuke can't die…_

The soft thud of knife striking flesh reverberated loudly through the silent room. Sound as well as feeling returned to Sakura in an instant as she gazed into the pain filled eyes of Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke gazed down at her, shock and grief making their way onto his face. Sakura screamed at the pain as the kunai drove forward into her back, cutting through layers of flesh and muscle to pierce her heart from behind.

_Because I would rather die than allow him to be hurt._

Sakura had stood in the way. The kunai that had been aimed for Sasuke had hit her instead. She was dying.

And, even as the dark fog crept over her vision, even as the light began to fade from her eyes, she realized why it was that Sasuke had seemed so familiar to her. She remembered who the boy that she and Naruto had lost had been. She remembered the first time that she had fallen in love.

Sasuke looked deep into the eyes of the girl dying in front of him, and he saw within their jade depths the spark of recognition that he had fantasized about seeing there the entire time since she had failed to recognize him in the hospital. It was there now, only he would have preferred for it not to be there than for her to be dying right before his helpless eyes.

"Why?" he managed to choke out around the lump in his throat.

"Because I love you, Sasuke-kun," she replied before collapsing against his chest, unable to stand any longer. Sasuke heard her heartbeats slow as her lifeblood drained from her body.

_I love you too, Sakura-chan,_ he thought as the tears began to fall from his eyes. He held her close, lost to the world, alone but for the dying body of his beloved.

**A/N: READ THIS NOW BEFORE YOU TRY TO KILL ME!**

**Sakura is not dead. She will not die. No one will die. Well, Orochimaru will. In the next chapter, they will manage to save her. (I haven't yet decided between Naruto forcing the healing Kyuubi chakra into her body and Tsunade arriving thanks to a warning she got from winning at gambling.) Sasuke is going to end up using his new jutsu to speak with her before she regains consciousness in the hospital, to persuade her to wake up and come back to the world of the living. Okay? She is not going to die! I said I wasn't going to kill any of the characters in my story plan, and I meant that. Until next time, people who I just left on another evil cliffhanger. (evil laughter)**


	14. Savior

Forgotten Dream

Chapter XIII: Savior

**Disclaimer: If I were writing Naruto, we would have been forced to end the series already due to me deciding to kill off every character in heart-wrenching ways. Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto and I thank him for writing such a wonderful story for us all to obsess over.**

**A/N: Okay, this chapter, as well as the next few, is pretty morbid. Come to think of it, so is the entire story. These are just particularly dark. But I promise the ending of the story will be as happy as I can make it. So get out your tissue boxes and prepare to cry, and then cry at the ending because it's so happy.**

Sasuke stared numbly down at the limp body in his arms. She couldn't die. She couldn't. There was not way that she could die, not right after she remembered him. That was just too much, too cruel…

On the other side of the room, Naruto's attack on Orochimaru doubled. The blond was heartbroken over the death of his companion, and he was channeling his grief into battle fury. One final Rasengan was created, Naruto driving it into Orochimaru with the fury of a demon, shoving the victim into the opposite wall. When the dust cleared, the Sannin genius had collapsed limply against the wall. His body was already growing cold.

None of it mattered now. Sakura was dying even as Sasuke watched this. Orochimaru's death would not bring her back. He had learned that when he killed Itachi. Vengeance did nothing. The one who had brought the pain upon you was slain, but nothing was done to ease the burden, and all that was left behind was a feeling of emptiness and desolation. Such was an avenger's path.

But Sasuke was no longer an avenger. He had accomplished his goal and returned to his home, to the people that he cared about. He had hoped that with Itachi gone they would be safe, and he could love them without fearing that doing so would bring their own destruction upon them. He had clung to that hope the entire time that they were apart; sometimes it had been all that kept him going. He had believed that it would be true, but it wasn't. He had loved Sakura, and she had loved him, and because of it she now lay here, broken and bleeding, her life ebbing away from her even as Sasuke tortured himself with his thoughts.

"Teme." Sasuke looked up into the blue eyes of Uzumaki Naruto. His best friend's eyes were red, not with the Kyuubi's presence, but with the tears he was shedding at the thought of losing Sakura. "Teme, I'm sorry. I…I know that you loved her."

"_Love_ her, Naruto. That doesn't change just because she's no longer going to be with us." The Jinchuuriki nodded his understanding of the truth of Sasuke's statement.

"She loved you too, Sasuke," Naruto informed him, pity removing even his usual –teme suffix in favor of plainly saying his best friend's name. Sometimes, things were too serious for old quarrels. "The whole time that we were coming here to save you, I think that she started to remember you, you know, what happened with Team Seven."

"When did you remember, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, slightly curious even now.

"I guess that I always knew. As soon as I saw you in the hospital, I knew that I recognized you from somewhere. It just took me a while to remember the full story." The blond got a faraway look in his eye, and Sasuke knew that he was remembering.

"Do you know what she would always talk about while you were away? She'd tell me about the night that you decided to leave, and what you said to her. And when she described you, even when she was telling me how furious she was at you for leaving, she'd get this gentle tone in her voice, and you could tell that she still loved you. You could tell that she'd always love you… You could tell that you were a pretty lucky guy, Sasuke." Sasuke smiled sadly at Naruto's words. Yes, he smiled. He didn't smirk. It was too serious for that.

Both boys stared for an immeasurable time at the pained face of their dying teammate, grief clouding their features. Somehow, despite the amount of blood she was losing from her wound, Sakura managed to cling to the small spark of life left in her body. Neither one of them was willing to leave her to die alone, so they sat beside her, cradling her frail body in their protective arms, tears falling down their faces to stain her pale one.

The presence of another chakra registered on the senses of both boys. However, they were too beaten to care. Let whoever it was come. They would not abandon Sakura.

Dimly Sasuke became aware of the presence of many others bustling around, wearing the white uniforms of medic-nins. Voices sounded all around him, but he didn't care. It was only when Tsunade physically shook his body that he responded, turning to gaze at her with dead eyes.

"Sasuke," she addressed him, "let go of her." Sasuke made a noise of protest, but she cut him off. "I know how to save her. Let me take her, now, before it's too late." A spark of hope lit up Sasuke's eyes as she said this. He handed her Sakura's limp body, noting painfully how light the still form was. He prayed that it was not already too late.

"Naruto," Tsunade called to Sasuke's teammate. The hyperactive knucklehead perked up at the sound of his name, his usual vigor restored now that it looked like there was a chance of saving Sakura. "Place your hands over her heart, and focus your chakra into her. Not your usual chakra, mind you. The Kyuubi's chakra."

"The Kyuubi's chakra… Tsunade baa-chan, why?" Naruto asked, complying anyway.

"Have you never noticed that you seem to heal abnormally quickly? That is not a natural process, Naruto. It is thanks to the Kyuubi. Its chakra possesses healing properties. Even when it is used in someone not its host, the chakra can be used to heal them. It can save Sakura." Naruto's face lit up at the thought of Sakura living, of being able to see her smile and laugh again. He would do anything to see that again.

The glow of Naruto's orange chakra lit up the darkened cathedral. Before Sasuke's very eyes, her wound began to heal, and her flesh began to lose its unnatural paleness. Fresh tears sprung up at the idea that this might actually work; she might actually live. Sasuke was so desperate for that to happen, he almost feared to hope.

After a few minutes, Tsunade held up a hand for Naruto to stop.

"Her wounds have been healed. She's in stable condition. We can take her back to the hospital now, where we can do something about the amount of blood that she lost. With any luck, she should wake within a few days."

Naruto, panting from the amount of chakra he had used up, looked at Sasuke with hope-filled eyes. Sasuke gazed back, a trace of warmth and love making its way onto the Uchiha's face for the first time in living memory. Turning his gaze down to the unconscious girl before him, he tenderly brushed a strand of her pink hair off of her face.

He doubted that he had ever heard such wonderful words.

**A/N: This time I left you guys with a happier ending. There will be problems in the next chapter, but for now, bask in the happiness that I have left you with. Review; it makes me smile.**

**P.S. Tsunade did not just arrive conveniently because I made her. She had a good reason for coming. It will be revealed in the next chapter, because at the moment Naruto and Sasuke were too relieved to ask. **


	15. Reunion under the Full Moon

Forgotten Dream

Chapter XIV: Reunion under the Full Moon

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, why would I be posting stuff on a **_**fanfiction**_** site? Common sense says that I don't own the series. (Yay, I came up with another way to say that! Well, I already used it a couple of times, but I'm running out of ideas here people!)**

Sasuke gazed at Sakura's still form in the bed in front of him. All was silent in her hospital room except for the beeping of the machines monitoring her vital signs. Even Naruto was managing not to speak. He and Kakashi hovered sat next to Sasuke, all three men anxiously waiting for the cherry blossom of Konoha to awaken. It had already been three days, and they were worried. Tsunade had said that she would awaken within a few days, but how many was a few? How long would she be like this?

sasuXsaku

_Sakura-chan_, Naruto mentally cried, staring sadly at the body in front of them. Somehow, his distress at her continued comatose state could not adequately be expressed with words. Only the silent cry of his mind could truly express the pain that he was feeling.

_Tsunade-baa-chan, you said that she would be alright!_

_Flashback_

"_Tsunade-baa-chan, how did you know to come?" Naruto asked. Tsunade turned to face him, a somber expression on her unnaturally young face._

_"I won the lottery."_

_"What?!"_

_"Shizune never explained it to you, did she? It figures; it's never affected you before. I only ever win at gambling when someone I care about is about to be hurt severely. Since Shizune was safely in Konoha, the only one that it could mean was Sakura." Her face clouded with grief as she turned to look at the still paler than usual face of her apprentice. Naruto followed her gaze with his eyes, a similar expression of pain clouding his visage._

_"But Sakura-chan will be alright, won't she? She won't die!?" Naruto's voice rose as he imagined the horror of a world without Sakura and her bright smile. It was almost as awful as a world without ramen, or a world without Hinata._

_"I can't be entirely certain, Naruto; it took me quite a while to get here. However, I'd say that the odds are nine in ten in her favor, meaning that there's a 90 chance that she'll live." Naruto's panicked expression relaxed slightly, though he was by no means done worrying. There was still that other ten percent, the chance that Sakura would die. All he could do was pray that they had not been too late._

_End Flashback_

_Sakura-chan, please, you have to get better, for all our sakes!_

sasuXsaku

The waiting was killing Sasuke. Every few moments his gaze would shift to some other aspect of the room, only to be drawn back to Sakura moments later as his eyes tricked him into seeing tiny movements that weren't there. Apart from her breathing, she lay utterly still.

He could almost hear a tiny clock, _tick, tick, tick, _as seconds turned to minutes turned to hours. Still nothing happened. The sky darkened outside from a pale blue to the rainbow of colors that heralded the sunset, signaling that another night was about to begin. 

Beside him, he heard the soft rustle of fabric as Kakashi stood up, Naruto following suit. The two other men stretched, easing the stiffness out of muscles cramped from long hours of sitting still to watch for signs of change in Sakura's condition. Sasuke did not even bother to glance at them.

"Sasuke," Kakashi addressed him, causing the Uchiha to turn and face his former sensei. Kakashi, along with the rest of Konoha, had remembered who he was about the same time that Naruto and Sakura had. It had been as though their recollection of him had been some kind of signal, and memory returned to the citizens of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Whatever the reason, Sasuke was profoundly grateful that he no longer had to suffer through his old companions (friends was far too grand a word to describe their old relationships) not remembering who he was. (Excluding Hinata of course; the shy Hyuuga heiress had remembered him perfectly well the entire time.) "Sasuke, it's time for us to leave. Visiting hours are over. You need to go home."

"I'll come in a minute, Kakashi. I just want to stay here for a little longer," Sasuke responded. The Jounin did not look convinced. His former pupil sighed. "Look, I promise that I'll be down in a minute, okay?" Still Kakashi did not appear to believe him, but he knew from Sasuke's Genin days the futility of arguing with the Uchiha. With a weary sigh he left, Naruto following him with only the briefest glance back at Sasuke.

"I'm sure that she'll be fine, Sasuke-teme," his closest friend informed him, though the statement lacked any of Naruto's usual conviction. Seeing the ineffectiveness of his comment, Naruto followed their former sensei out of the room, a worried expression on his usually cheerful face.

sasuXsaku

_I don't like that look in Sasuke's eye_, Kakashi thought, concerned for his ex-pupil. _It's the same look that he used to get when they were younger when his fury was truly roused. Sasuke's never been able to stand being helpless; he's almost as bad as Naruto at accepting when there is nothing more that he can do, and right from the start he would try to shield Sakura from any harm. I have a bad feeling about this…_

sasuXsaku

As soon as the sounds of Naruto and Kakashi's footsteps began to fade, along with the presence of their chakra, Sasuke turned to face Sakura's still body on the hospital bed before him. He knew that what he was about to do would be frowned upon by the Council of Elders, should they ever know of it. His new skill was a dangerous one, both in the amount of chakra it required and certain… _other_ risks.

Basically, he had invented a jutsu that allowed his soul to leave his body, and travel freely throughout spirit realm. **(A/N: I know that the odds of inventing a jutsu that has no applications in killing Itachi are pretty much nonexistent, but just imagine that he did for the sake of the story, okay.) **This was something that the body did naturally when one slept (or was in a coma). All that Sasuke had done was to learn how to do it on command. While his soul was free of his body, he could converse with any other souls in the realm of spirits, such as the soul of a girl trapped in a coma. There was just one slight problem.

There was no guarantee that he would be able to return to his body. If the jutsu messed up, or Sasuke ran out of chakra, he could be trapped forever in the realm of spirits. He would be worse than dead.

sasuXsaku

_Teme, don't try anything stupid. Sakura-chan will wake up by herself. I can feel it. Please, please don't try anything Sasuke-teme. I don't want to lose you too._

sasuXsaku

Sasuke focused his chakra, calling upon all the energy within his body to perform this task. He began to form the sequence of hand seals that would combine with his chakra to accomplish the jutsu.

"Ninja Art: Mind-body Separation! Technique of the Parting of the Soul and the Body!" **(A/N: I know the name is cheesy, but I couldn't think of what else to call it. Besides, the names of all the official jutsu also say exactly what they do. I modeled it after the English anime's style of saying jutsu, because I do not know how to say all that in Japanese. If anyone does know, please tell me, so that it sounds less cheesy.)**

A blue glow began to form around Sasuke as his power drained away, siphoning away his spiritual being as it did so. With the small part of him that wasn't occupied with performing the technique, he could vaguely see the faint outline of his soul being formed outside of his body. It was a rather creepy experience, almost like seeing your own ghost.

After nearly a full minute the technique was complete. Sasuke's physical body collapsed without his mind regulating the muscles required to remain standing. The real Sasuke, his soul, stood (or rather, floated), surveying the room. Normally plain objects such as Sakura's forehead protector on her bedside table and the sheets of her bed now shone with an inner light, becoming beautiful in a way that they never were to the mortal eye. It was almost worth the risk of the technique, just for these few moments of being able to see the hidden beauty of every aspect of the world that he lived in, and Uchiha Sasuke was not normally a sentimental guy. For him to admit that something was lovely, it must be truly exquisite.

Much as he would have loved to examine the almost surreal beauty that now existed in the world, Sasuke had a task. Ignoring the common items beside him, he zoned his senses in on the other spirit in the room, the soul of Haruno Sakura. The girl's spirit hovered over her body, gazing at him, a look of great sadness upon her lovely face. **(A/N: Just to clear this up: in this story, spirits look like a semi-transparent version of the person.)**

"Hello, Sasuke-kun," she greeted him, her voice filled with an otherworldly calm that did not make it to her features.

"Sakura, you know why I am here. I can return you to your body. You can come back to us, to your friends, your home. You know that you can." Pearly tears sprung up in her ghostly eyes at his words, and a choked sob came from her throat. 

"I can't, Sasuke-kun. My body is dying. If I were to return to it, within minutes, I would be dead."

"You wouldn't," Sasuke argued desperately. "Naruto healed you, and you've been given enough new blood to live. Please, Sakura, you can't die!"

"I must. My time in this world has come to an end, Sasuke-kun. Even you cannot deny death once it has chosen its victims."

"_Sakura_," Sasuke let out a strangled sob as tears sprang to his own eyes. The Uchiha's emotionless exterior had been undone by grief, leaving behind a lost little boy who couldn't bear to lose what was most precious to him all over again. She turned her depthless jade orbs to face him.

"Sasuke-kun, you once told me that we were all just starting down new paths, the only difference was that they no longer crossed each other. **(A/N: The reference I'm making is to Naruto manga chapter 181 or anime episode 109, the part where Sasuke decides to leave and Sakura tries to stop him. I'm not sure how much I changed it from the translations of the Japanese versions, but I know that's different from what it says in the English version of the manga. I just wanted to make sure that everyone can recognize where that's from, because otherwise it loses a lot of the meaning.) **That's what's happening now. Our lives are splitting again, and we're all given new paths to walk, alone. We can begin our lives again… without each other."

"No," he whispered, unable to bear the thought of living a life without her in it. Every time that he had been hurt, she had been there for him. When he nearly died in the Land of Waves, she had been there; when Orochimaru had given him the curse seal, Sakura had held onto him and told him that he would be okay; when he had been wounded from his fight with Gaara, she had risked her own life to save his; when he had awakened in the hospital after his ill-fated attack on Itachi, the kunoichi had sat beside him to keep him company, never once needing a response on his end to keep her there; and finally when he had decided to leave the village, she had begged him to stay, offering to endanger herself to help him with his revenge, and willing to give up the life that she knew, if it meant that she could stay with him. Through it all, Sakura had been there for him, protecting him, easing the pain, loving him. And now that she was the one hurt, he could do nothing for her. Sasuke felt a tugging in his chest, and realized that it was his wounded heart crying out in pain.

Sakura apparently heard the lament of his soul, for her gaze softened and became less detached from his plight.

"Sasuke-kun," she said softly, her voice full of warmth and love beyond anything that Sasuke had heard before. Even in the depths of his grief, Sasuke felt a warm feeling wash over him; a belief that he was safe from all harm as long as he was with her. "There is nothing that I can do."

"No," he breathed again, his grief to profound for words. Sasuke gazed out the window, into the endless expanse of the black night sky. A full moon glowed from its perch in the dark void, as pale and otherworldly as the forms in which Sasuke and Sakura now existed. It bathed the landscape in a soft luminescence, adding a gentle beauty to the world around them. It was such a perfect night, so beautiful and precious, it seemed unfair that it should be their last together.

The full moon hung in the night sky, its ghostly light shining off the tears that fell from Sasuke's fathomless onyx eyes. The full moon… the full moon… the full moon… As though from another world, Sasuke heard a soft voice speaking to him, reciting an old poem that he had read when he was younger in one of the many ancient books filling the Uchiha clan's vast library.

_Two hearts beating as one_

_Torn apart once the night is done. _

_Lover's blood under the full moon's light_

_Red as the heart and dark as the night;_

_Joined together, bound by blood_

_To day they return once the night is done._

His mother had read that aloud to him once. A much younger Sasuke had been looking through the ancient tomes in the vast Uchiha clan library, and stumbled upon the poem during his readings. He had taken it to his mother and asked what it meant. In her gentle voice, Mikoto had told him that it referred to a tale that originated long ago, when the world was young, back in the days when the world had still believed in magic. It was the story of a man and the woman that he had loved with all his heart. One day the woman had been bitten by a snake, and she lay, dying in her bed, all the healers powerless to save her. Beneath the light of the full moon, the man had mixed their blood, binding them together more completely than chains. Within moments, the girl's eyes had opened, full of life, and the young couple had lived happily together until the end of their days, when they had both died in their sleep on the same night. Mikoto had dismissed it as legend, but Sasuke knew that the ancient rituals had been real after all (the one that cast away Naruto and Sakura's memories of him had been enough to prove that). Suppose that this one was real as well… Suppose that he could save Sakura…

He turned to face her, a trace of hope making its way into his pained stare.

"Sakura," he whispered, fearing that to speak louder would be to shatter the hope he so desperately clung to. She turned to face him at the sound of her name, the same sorrow apparent on her face that he knew to be on his. "Sakura… when I was little, I read a tale in which a man managed to bring the woman that he loved back to life. I think… I think that it may have been real. I think that it might work if we were to try it to save you." She stared out the window at the moon, a faraway expression on her weary countenance. Sasuke knew that she was warring her desire to return to them with her idea that her time in this world was up, and it was now her turn to die. Sasuke knew this as well, except that he knew that it wasn't her time that was up. It was his. That kunai should have left him as the one hovering between life and death. Sakura had chosen to get in the way. Sasuke refused to let her suffer on his behalf anymore. She would not die for him too after all that he had already made her go through!

Finally she turned her gaze from the moon, back to his desperate face.

"Alright, Sasuke-kun, I will return with you. What must be done?"

"We must share blood under the light of the full moon. I'd have to end the jutsu to do it." She nodded.

"Since to return to my body would kill me, I need you to make the cut for me. Would you be able to do that, Sasuke-kun?" _What?! _He would have to hurt Sakura, to take a knife to her flesh?! He couldn't... Sasuke looked into her eyes and saw that she knew that there was no other way. He would do it or she would die. He could do it.

"Kai," he said somberly, ending the jutsu. He felt a strong pull as his spirit was shoved brutally back into his body. Sasuke awoke on the hospital floor, blinking rapidly as his eyes adjusted to the normal plainness of the objects in the room.

His hand reached into his back pocket for a kunai knife. Finding one, he clenched his fingers around it, bringing the cold metal blade into his line of vision. The moonlight reflected off of it, giving the blade a silver sheen. The tip was honed to perfection, sharp enough to slice his skin with the application of minimal pressure. It was amazing that the same weapon that had originally taken his Sakura from him could also be the source of so much hope in Sasuke's life.

Sasuke brought the blade up to his eye, his gaze fixated on that razor sharp edge. Then, with no sign of hesitation he plunged the blade into the tender flesh of his arm (nearer to the elbow then the wrist; he wanted to spill his blood, not to kill himself). He gasped at the pain as crimson blood began to leak from his wound, falling onto the clean white tile of the floor and staining it a deep red. Without even pausing, Sasuke moved over to Sakura's bedside and picked up her limp arm. Here he faltered, staring at the pale flesh of her arm, marveling at how vulnerable it was. He would have to scar that flesh. He would have to bring a knife to Sakura's body with the intent to harm her. Even as these doubts plagued him, another voice spoke in his mind, reminding him that this was her only chance. If he could not bring himself to do this, then Sakura was as good as dead. With that thought in mind, Sasuke swiftly brought the blade down before anymore doubts could emerge.

Sakura's blood pooled up, as deep and bitter as his own. Hurriedly, Sasuke brought their two arms together so that the blood mixed, the light of the full moon shining down upon the act.

_Please, please work, _he prayed. _Please, I can't lose Sakura again._

A few minutes passed, and nothing had happened. Sasuke began to doubt, his fear like poison to his mind. It had to have worked; it had to! Sakura could not die. A single cold bead of sweat fell from his face, falling onto her outstretched arm. Sakura shivered at the sudden cold, rolling over so that she faced him. Sasuke noticed that a touch of color had come back to her face. He felt a lump rise in his throat and tears began to fall from his eyes as her dazzling emerald ones opened.

"Sasuke-kun," she breathed his name. He could only sob softly and nod as she reached out a pale hand to stroke his cheek. "Hush, you don't need to cry. It's alright; I'm fine." He nodded once then swept her up in his arms, still crying softly. She smiled sadly before stroking his hair, making soft reassuring noises. "It's alright, Sasuke-kun. Everything is going to be fine."

Everything was already fine. She was alright.

sasuXsaku

Naruto tapped his foot impatiently on the tiled floor of the hospital reception room. He and Kakashi had agreed not to leave until Sasuke came down, to make sure that the Uchiha remained true to his word and did leave. He sighed as he looked at the clock; they had left Sasuke nearly half an hour ago. That was more than the 'just a minute' that Sasuke had promised.

"Kakashi," he addressed Kakashi, who looked up from his _Icha Icha_ novel with mild irritation. "Sasuke isn't coming; we have to go get him." His former teacher nodded and followed him, casting a wistful look back at his perverted novel.

"Teme, you've been here long enough; it's been way more than 'just a minute'," the blond shouted as he threw open the door to Sakura's hospital room. What he saw made him stop dead. Sakura was awake, her jade eyes turning to stare at Naruto. Sasuke's expression was a cross between the smugness he so obviously felt at Naruto's astounded face and relief that Sakura was alright.

"Sakura-chan… SAKURA-CHANN!" Naruto cried, rushing forward to hug Sakura. She smiled at him.

"Hey Naruto."

"Sakura-chan, you're alright," her irrepressible companion sobbed, sweeping her into a bone-crushing embrace.

"Hn, she's fine now, but she won't be for much longer if you keep hugging her like that, dobe," Sasuke told him. Naruto released Sakura and rounded on the dark-haired Uchiha, friendly anger in his eyes.

"Teme just shut up! Sakura-chan is fine, right Sakura-chan?" Sakura shook her head in amusement.

"You two," she chided them, sweeping the both of them into a group hug to take the sting out of her words. After a moment even Kakashi joined in. The four of them sat together like that for a long while, hugging and laughing with each other and arguing companionably. For the first time in six long years, the four members of the old Team Seven sat down together, in full awareness of who they all were, as friends. None of them had ever been happier.

**A/N: Yay, happy ending! That was a really long chapter (for this story), plus I had to spend a while thinking about how I would to it, which is why this wasn't up yesterday. I am aware that that was totally cheesy, but it was sweet. I do not mind if you review to tell me that it was cheesy, but you have to offer advice on how to improve it if you do so. Just telling me that you thought it was corny when I already acknowledged that it is does nothing except that it makes me feel bad; I take constructive criticism, not flames. The next chapter is going to be the last one, just to let you all know.**


	16. Epilogue: Together at Last

Forgotten Dream

Epilogue: Together at Last

**Disclaimer: I sadly (for me, you guys should probably be grateful) still have not managed to come up with a plan to obtain the Naruto copyright, but I will not give up! (Yes I will; I'm bored.)**

Haruno Sakura stared down into the gently flowing current of the river below the old bridge that had been Team Seven's meeting place since their original formation, over seven years ago. She had only been discharged from the hospital last month; today was her first mission back as a ninja after nearly being killed on the mission to rescue Sasuke from Orochimaru. Even more importantly in Sakura's mind, it was the first mission that Team Seven would have together in the six long and painful years since Sasuke had originally left the village to join Orochimaru.

"Sakura-chan, are you alright?" Naruto asked her, concerned by her silence. Even after Sakura had been out of the hospital for a full month, he still worried about her near constantly. Sakura just hoped that he would be less overprotective of her once their mission began.

"Hn, dobe, she's fine," Sasuke said, wrapping her in a one-armed embrace to take the apparent lack of caring out of his words. Sakura had learned shortly after her memory returned that Sasuke did in fact care for her very much; he just found it hard to express such sentiments. Still, he had tried to be more caring towards her lately, ever since she had officially become his girlfriend. They were still a bit young to be considering marriage **(A/N: They're nineteen in this story.)**, but he had told her a few days ago that he thought that 'Uchiha Sakura' had a nice ring to it.

She sighed contentedly, enjoying Sasuke's close proximity as a breeze swirled about the three, bringing with it a cascade of cherry blossoms from the nearby trees. Sakura laughed in sheer elation as the petals danced around them, a swirling vortex of pale pink. Beside her, Naruto had his usual goofy grin plastered on his face. Even Sasuke had a genuine smile gracing his features. He smiled a lot more lately, now that he had no other obligations or worries in his life beyond those of a normal shinobi. Sakura was glad; she loved how his smiles filled her with a feeling of warmth and security beyond anything she had ever felt before.

"Yo," called a familiar voice, ending the moment, but not the joy that it had brought.

"Ka-Kakashi? You're ON TIME!" Naruto exclaimed, nearly fainting in shock. The Jounin walked up to them, a smile on the part of his face that was visible. Sasuke's eye twitched in shock, while Sakura hurriedly wracked her brain to try and remember if today was April Fool's Day. Nope, it was May.

"Well, I heard that it was Sakura's first mission back on the squad, so I thought that I wouldn't come early to celebrate."

"But you're not early, Kakashi. You're just barely on time," Sasuke informed him. Kakashi anime sweat dropped.

"Yeah, thanks for pointing that out Sasuke. (You couldn't honestly have expected me to be early, could you?)" ** (A/N: The part of the statement in parenthesis would be the little undertones that they sometimes have. When you read the manga, there are occasionally little bits written in a smaller font and off to the side of the speech bubble, at least in the English manga, which is my reference source for my stories. If you still don't know what I'm talking about, just imagine Kakashi muttering that to himself.)**

"What's our mission, ex-sensei? I'm ready for anything, dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed. Kakashi sweat dropped again, Sasuke rolled his eyes at the blond's antics, and Sakura shook her head in amusement. 

"Naruto, calm down," the kunoichi scolded him gently. "Kakashi will tell us, won't you, Kakashi." Their former sensei smiled cheerily; leave it to Sakura to calm Naruto down.

"We'll be spying on Akatsuki to gather information for a potential assault. Since they only have five members left **(A/N: Pain, Konan, Zetsu, Tobi/ Madara, and Kisame)**, Konoha would prefer to attack them, rather than waiting for them to attack us. Our assignment is to learn about them, to make sure that our move is an attack, not a walk into a deathtrap. Everyone clear on what that means? No foolish heroics, no unnecessary risks, keep Naruto bound and gagged before he gets the chance to try anything, I mean, keep Naruto from getting kidnapped…"

"Hai!" they all three responded eagerly, Naruto apparently not having heard the bit about him.

"Alright then. Team Kakashi, move out!" The four of them proceeded towards the village gates, an extra spring in each of their steps that had been absent during their last six years apart, as another gust of wind stirred up a new whirlwind of cherry blossoms. Standing next to the people that she considered to be her brother, her second father, and the love of her life, Sakura thought that she had never been happier. For better or worse, they were Team Seven. Even when they were apart, even when they tried to deny it, they would always be Team Seven. And none of them would have it any other way.

"My family," she breathed, utterly content. His face framed by the cascade of pink flower petals, Sasuke turned to smile at her, a look of unguarded love on his face for the first time in Sakura's memory. She smiled back, the same bliss reflected in her expression.

_My Sasuke-kun…_

sasuXsaku

_My Sakura-chan…_

**A/N: Yay, fluffiness! I love writing happy endings! They're really good; it's just that the sad ending is generally the first idea to cross my mind. I really tried my best to make this story turn out sweet, please tell me how you think I did. I apologize to anyone who felt that this story was too depressing or dark, I really did intend for it to be happier. It's just that my mind naturally comes up with the sadder ideas first and they form into such promising stories… If my stories seem to have an obsession with angst and death, that's why; please no one tell me that I cliché writing sad stuff and need to come up with something happy. **

**I am now in shock that I wrote this entire story in under two weeks. I think that I'm going to take a break from writing for a while, just because I've spent so much of my time on this lately, I want to see that it does well before I go write tons of new stuff. So review, now, or you don't get anything new! (Evil laughter, as sakura blossoms drift by on a breeze and the screen fades to blackness; I added something new to the black screen in celebration of the end of the story.)**


End file.
